Act One: Innocent Trials
by AC Phoenix
Summary: The Parkinson twins are just about your average Potter fans, but on the day they decide to visit Platform 9 3/4 they are disappointed to find out it is gone. They have yet to realize what is in stored for them... Better than it sounds. Give it a chance?
1. Two Fans, One Problem

**Summary:** Annette and Hugo share the same birthday, but they are very much different from each other. Hugo's an energetic planner. Annette's shy and is full of imagination (but is just about ready to face the facts: Harry Potter does not exist). But what happens when she and her brother find the famous Platform Nine and Three Quarters only to be a myth? And suddenly fantasy has become reality? Pretty soon they'll feel the weight of the universe on their shoulders.

Yet another fanfic made out of sheer boredom. There will be minor swear words every now and then, but nothing too graphic.

Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling. I only own my OC characters.

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER ONE: **Two Fans, One Problem**

Above the sky the seagulls chirped, more than likely debating who was going to get the first fish that jumped out of the ocean. Annette Parkinson could tell that the two had started a race to see who would get at the edge of the water, but she noticed immediately the gleam of betrayal in its eyes. As the first seagull continued on the race, the second one arched his (or her) wings and dived into the ocean, catching the helpless fish. Perhaps the fish was getting excited over the race, or maybe he was going to greet the gull, but once the fish had realized the bird's intentions, it was too late. Poor fish. Poor seagull! He had just lost not only their bet, but his careless actions had just cost him a meal. Life could be so cruel.

"Anne!" called a boy.

She knew who it was, but continued to hang onto the railing as she looked towards the ocean. It was so beautiful, and yet it could still be one of the most deadly threats. It was a shame how so many people could be easily deceived, and she had seen a good share of betrayal, even for an eleven-year-old going on twelve. Well, not Anne _personally_, but her older sister, Carol Parkinson, had followed shyly among the rough cloud. How she never turned into one of those, "hooligans", Anne would never know, but it didn't really matter, did it? She was just glad that Carol was finally out of her burrow, and now they were experiencing the brilliance of their heritage, the place where their father was born and raised, Great Britain. Their mother was American, but has been so overwhelmed with work that she's decided to send the trio off to their grandmother, Claire, and their father agreed with the move (thinking that it would be a good opportunity for them to "expand their horizons").

"For Pete's sake, Anne did you hear me?" the boy hollered. His breaths started to calm down once his pace slowed into a natural walk, then, he climbed onto the railings, sat down, and looked down towards Anne.

"Sorry Hugo. What were you saying earlier?" she asked full-heartedly.

He grinned, staring into her eyes to make sure she had been listening to him with her full attention. Or maybe because he knew that she had been daydreaming, because he very well knew that his baby sister was always drifting in the clouds. Hugo was different. Instead of dreaming all day, he actually did the constructive work while his sister would explain her ideas and stories. Most of their friends had found it odd that these twins didn't share a whole lot in common, other than Harry Potter books, but could still find anything to talk about and got along very well. He guessed it had something to do with the law of opposite attraction, like magnets, a lesson he found very amusing. It could have also been their twin bond. But either way, he still had to tell her his news.

"Carol's finally given in. She's going to take us to see Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Maybe we'll even see J.K. Rowling! But it'll have to be after our lessons… shoot! I was hoping we could get there at eleven 'o clock. Oh yeah, Carol said that she took a photo of the Platform, but we'll need to get one with us next to it…"

As Hugo plotted things to himself, Anne's hazel eyes gleamed with hints of tan; almost making her eyes look as if they had shifted to a light brown. Once Hugo had realized that he was babbling (another trait the twins shared) he looked back towards her, his grin was even wider as he saw his sister's sudden perk of thrill, then jumped down to her side. She really was the baby of the family, and unless their parents decided to have more children it would stay that way. But Anne didn't mind being the youngest. Actually, she took advantage of her innocence, however, she would never abuse it. She wouldn't betray anyone just like the second gull had. Or were the gulls enemies? Before she could conclude her assumption, Hugo waved his hands in front of her. She broke off of her daze, realizing that Hugo was standing directly in front of her.

"So I'll try to see if I can't change Gram's mind about our lessons being switched. Shouldn't be too hard, so you just wait. Okay?"

She nodded like the little gullible child she was, but then decided to bring out a joke. "Got it. And if I see any owls?"

He laughed. "Make sure you get the letters. If they're ours, that is. But I get the packs of Chocolate Frogs."

She giggled. "Fine, but I get dibs if there's a broom."

"Sneaky little hobbit…"

They both roared with laughter, and as Anne wiped a joyful tear she spoke. "Wrong book, Golem."

"I sorry master…"

Their heads turned as they heard their names being called. Waving them over was a tall woman that bore a not-so-shocking resemblance to the twins. If the twins bore spitting resemblances to their parents, why would it be so shocking if their older sister had similar genetics? The only difference was of age and the fact that she could easily tower over the twins, but that was only because they were eleven and she had been nearly twenty. After she formally called out their respective names, the two sprinted towards her, knowing that today she had been in a bad mood. As soon as they were barely a foot away, she spun around and started to walk, knowing that the twins had been following like little ducklings.

* * *

The moment the three Parkinson children had arrived at their grandmother's house, the grandfather clock chimed four times. The twins separated from their sister, Carol, and quietly crept towards their shared bedroom, knowing very well that their grandmother had been in the middle of her afternoon nap. Since she wouldn't be up for at least another twenty minutes or so, the twins took this advantage of silence for some quiet free time.

They tiptoed up the stairs, careful that they had avoided any loose boards, and entered the room. Hugo pulled off his flannel hoodie, carelessly tossing it on the top of the oak bunk bed. Anne sighed, knowing that Grand wouldn't be pleased, but did the same with her lavender hoodie (only she had tossed it on the lower bunk).

As she did, Hugo climbed up to his bed and pulled out a black Discman from underneath his pillow, then plugged the ear buds into his ears, plopping onto the bed sighing as he listened to a singer that Anne could easily hear and recognized almost instantly by his strumming. She pulled out her white Discman from her bed, but then crawled up the ladder, tugging Hugo's foot (for he had blown his music up far too loud). Once she did, the volume of his music dimmed. She placed her earphones over her ears, then, began to bob her head as she listened to her music as she sat down on her bunk.

For the first few seconds of the song she sat soundlessly, but sighed and curled into a side-ways ball, realizing the obvious. Their birthday was nearly two months away, and when it passed, it meant that all of their fantasies of going to Hogwarts would have to end. Of course, they would still read their prized hard-covered books (all of them finally being out and in their possession, both of them had only gotten up to the fourth book) until they reached the end, but the wonders wouldn't be the same. What would happen if they had gotten a letter acceptance from Hogwarts? Would she be a good witch? She'd definitely be in Gryffindor. Maybe Hufflepuff. And what would it be like to go to a boarding school with no grandmother to nag either twin? Turning twelve would be the most disappointing day of her life, but she'd have to live on with it.

"Why go batty over a silly book? You have potential. Use it well," her grandmother would say. "Yes ma'am." Anne would probably reply.

Her grandmother was right. Why cry over a book? There were much better, and much worse things to worry about.

"Anne?"

She turned down her music.

"Yeah?" Anne asked.

Hugo was silent for a minute. She pulled her head out to see if her brother had still been lying on his bed, and he was. Once she was sure he wasn't going to move, she shifted back onto her bed.

"Never mind."

And they've been quiet ever since, raising each of their Discman's to block out the soft snoring of their zoned-out grandmother, as well as each other's music. The twins' ears were sore by dinner time, but neither of the twins complained since they weren't even suppose to have Discmans in the first place; Hugo had lost his one too many times, and to make things fair, Claire had taken both of them, but she had lost track of them (and she didn't care much about it too, seeing as they were such a nuisance) but Anne had found them in one of her shoe boxes by accident and claimed them. So every day they'd wait until Grams was asleep, pulled them out from underneath their pillows, and listened to them to block out her snoring.

"So, are you going to do anything tomorrow Grandma Claire?" Anne asked softly. Hugo looked up from his plate of meatloaf to the brunette; his brow rose up with curiosity.

Claire gazed her honey brown eyes towards the young angelic child. It'd been the first time she ever spoke up during dinner, so the old woman was taken aback. She'd been hoping that she'd get to know the younger granddaughter, but she found it very difficult to keep track of three children without any extensional assistance. Hughie was a strong and kind man, helping her raise her son properly (even if the child had been a little mayhem) and had passed on peacefully. She wasn't surprised when their parents had sent the children to her house. Jim had been working overseas while his wife struggled to keep her paycheck as well as her children in place. Annette had been the youngest of the three, by minutes, and the most timid daydreamer.

Claire smiled, "Oh, well the ladies were planning to go to tea, but I'll be canceling that. You two have your lessons, and Carol, I do believe you should start taking some. Italy is a nice country, but French is a requirement for college."

Carol swallowed a piece of broccoli as she looked towards Anne but looked back towards Claire, "I've already taken two fine art classes, so I'm all set."

"It doesn't hurt to have extra options. There are other schools than just NYC."

"I've already sent my application weeks ago, Grams, and I should be getting a reply soon." Carol said, forcing herself not to make it sound like a retort. Claire sensed a rise of tention in the atmosphere. She backed down, knowing things would end up badly if the conversation continued.

"Very well."

"… I want to go to the King's Cross Station tomorrow." Hugo blurted.

Claire looked towards him curiously. "Now why would you want to go to a station, when you're already here?"

"… I like trains. Never saw one up close, almost did back in Connecticut, but that was canceled. Carol had gotten the flu that day and all the attention was brought onto _her_."

Carol ignored Hugo's selfish complain while she gulped the last bite of her vegetables, then, pointed her fork as Anne watched (as a gesture for her to do the same) before she got up and went to the kitchen. "I'm done." She said before leaving.

"And it absolutely must be tomorrow?" Claire questioned. He nodded with a serious expression, but only Anne knew that it was his 'game face'.

"Eleven 'o clock, sharp."

"That's when the gathering begins… Carol?"

Carol dropped her dish at the sound of her name and came running in, rubber gloves with an apron. Her curls looked like they were about to spring out of her hair with shock. "You _can't_ be serious! They've got lessons!"

Hugo glared at her, "You promised!"

"I said: _We'll see if Grandma says yes_."

"Well, I don't see why not. As long as the twins make up their lessons, it's not too hard to manage. You can use the car again, dear."

All three siblings stared towards their grandmother, then, looked back to one another. The twins grinned while Carol sighed with frustration as she headed back to finish cleaning her dishes.

* * *

It was very difficult for Hugo to suppress his excitement and Annette could tell from the shifts and jerks from the top bunk. She had finally lost it after the twentieth squeak, hissing irritably towards her few-minutes older brother. "Would you _please_ stop tossing? I don't want to fall asleep when we get there!"

"I can't help it…"he whispered.

She sighed, turning her body to her side as she slipped the pillow out from under her head, covering her ears. The younger sibling gave up on blocking the sound and pulled herself out of bed, tiptoeing towards the door. "What're you _doing_? If you leave now, we won't be able to go to the station!" Hugo hissed.

"When you go to sleep, I'll come back!" Anne whispered. Which meant that she would probably have to sleep on the couch tonight. She closed the door lightly once she was in the hallway, ignoring her brother's plead. The girl couldn't tell what had gotten over her 'bold' actions, considering that she'd always silently put up with her siblings. Maybe she was getting into a new phase. Or horomones. Whatever it was, she took it with caution, knowing that someday she'd get in trouble with it.

The eleven-year-old hadn't been satisfied until she had finally reached the first floor without making any squeaks along the way. She huddled her stuffed sheep against her robed body, creeping towards the couch that would be her bed for the evening. Suddenly, there was a loud bang from outside, causing her to squeak rather loudly. She could tell that no one had heard her, or the bangs, for none of the doors of the house burst open. Not one single door of concern had whipped open. Why was that? Couldn't they hear any noise? It didn't make much sense to her.

Anne dashed for the window, keeping her body in a low duck as she pulled one of the curtains open. Her jaw gaped as she saw three rather unusual characters in the middle of the road, one of them towering over the two as he carried something incredibly tiny in his arms. She looked a few feet away from him and saw an old motorcycle, then, assumed that the engine was the cause of the horrendous noise. It purred idly, waiting for its keeper to take his claim once again.

_'Keeper of Keys!'_ It hit Anne like a tornado, but then she shook her head. '_Harry Potter doesn't exist. Harry Potter doesn't exist.'_

The old man who stood in front of the giant gave a pleased smile before he started to talk. Anne sighed, knowing that she couldn't hear what was going on during the conversation, but from the way he smiled, it seemed like a short greeting. For a second, Anne had thought he shot his eyes towards her, but even though she meantally screamed for her body to move, but her body was frozen. At the same time, she could tell he was sincere, but she knew that it was wrong to try and eavsedrop into other peoples conversations, which was why she begged her body to move.

All of a sudden, she felt like he had known everything about her. As if there wasn't a single secret that she had in her head that he didn't know.

_'This is stupid'. _She mentally scowled to herself. '_He's just imaginary.' _

She went on with her logical assumption. _I'm just sleeping in my room and when morning comes, Hugo will yank me out of bed. Or maybe I'm just imagining things. I'm really good at that, you know? My mum said that I use to have an imaginary friend named Rose, and I'd get offended when Carol would sit on her during dinner, or if a random person were to bump into her, I'd start getting really angry and yell at them. I might've been six… how old was Rose? Seven, methinks. _

_This is all a very vivid imagination. But it's not as original as usual... maybe it's because we're going to the Platform tomorrow._

And at the blink of an eye, the characters vanished from Anne's sight. She sighed with relief, glad to know that she was right. It had only been a silly imagination, and this she was sure of because she had pinched her cheek to make sure she was awake.

She crawled onto the couch, curling into a ball as she hugged her sheep, Lillian, and as she pictured them in her mind, she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

The next day, Hugo was as upbeat as ever. He practically dragged Anne out of bed, having most of her clothes set for her on her bunk. Anne groggily dressed herself, groaning as she realized that she had been dressed identically to his brother, but the only difference was that she was wearing a plaid skirt while he wore trousers. Both of their knitted sweaters were a navy blue (with their initials embroidered in the front) and short collared shirts. Anne had finally put her foot down, convincing him—before they left the car—that it was not necessary to wear ties for this occasion. He shrugged it off, letting her have her own way for once.

Anne staggered as Hugo led her towards the middle of Platforms Nine and Ten, but to their very deep disappointment, there was no platform. Hugo shot a glare towards Carol, "What happened to the Platform?" he asked. Carol shrugged, not really caring that her little brother was about to throw a tantrum. The twelve-year-old-to-be marched towards a uniformed man. The man placed a polite smile to the boy.

"What happened to the Platform?"

The British man blinked. "There are many platforms, son. Which one?"

_"Which one?"_ He repeated with impatience. "Nine and Three Quarters! _That_ one." He pointed to the wall.

The man furrowed his brows. "Think you're funny, do you?"

"Do I _look_ like I'm having fun?"

"Son, there's no such platform around here. Go home to your mum and give 'er a nice hug. Go on, scoot!"


	2. The Zoo at Home

**Notes: **Hopefully this chapter will be a bit more entertaining. Comments will be appreciated, but will not be a requirement. Enjoy.

J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter. I own my made ups.

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"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER TWO: **The Zoo at Home**

'_What in the bloody blaze happened?'_ Hugo thought heatedly. '_How come _Carol_ could see the Platform, but we couldn't? She's not even a Potter fan!' _Jealousy started to spread through his face as he stormed into the house, knowing very well that Grandmother Claire had gone to her tea party. Otherwise, he would have sulked the whole way to the room, rather than stomp childishly with a furrowed expression across his face.

Before he left, he muttered to Carol that he wanted to see the picture of the platform. He knew something had been horribly wrong, but not only that, he hadn't noticed that Anne had been unusually quiet. She'd usually try to come up with something to make him feel better, but she had her own thoughts on her mind.

When he entered the room, he walked over to the small bookshelf of children's novels, but as he approached the bookcase, he gaped. There had been a rather large gap in the center of the bookcase, where he had organized the Harry Potter books himself. All that rested on the shelf were two charcoal-colored journals bound with leather and a pair of two hard covered books. On one of the edges of a journal was a young Grizzly Cub outlined with copper, while the one underneath was outlined with gold, shaping a Bengal tiger. His eyes widened, for he thought he had seen the tiger wink at him. He shook his head, then slipped the journal out and skimmed through the journal. Nothing had been written. He flipped back and forth with the pages, but nothing seemed to appear.

Giddily, he raced over towards the desk, ignoring the squeak of the door as Anne walked in. She had asked him something, but really didn't catch it. His temper had dropped completely with this newfound excitement. He could feel the flow of his blood pumping quickly, showing signs of adrenaline, but he ignored it. He tried scribbling words onto his journal, but each time he tried writing it down, the pen wouldn't work. He guessed that the pens must have ran out of ink, so he tossed each one carelessly one after another until there were only pencils left. He wasn't fond of writing in pencils, but now he was more impatient than ever. He went for the pencils, but they hadn't even made a single dent. The eager boy was too busy to realize that his twin was standing behind his shoulder.

Hugo felt a jolt through his body as she tapped his shoulder, as if his skeleton had leaped out of his body by the Grim Reaper's touch. He whirled around, only to feel at east as he saw the girl who could very well pass as "Little Bo Peep" for a performance. He grinned wearily towards her as she inched back from his quick reaction, giving an apologetic expression. Once again, Anne was still in a terrible trance of thought. Had she just seen the copper cub yawn boredly? _'Of course not!'_ Anne's common sense tried to tell her. Her vision had debated with it, insisting that it was the one who was telling the truth. She had a hard time restraining both senses, let alone keeping aware of what was going on with her. Her brother started to worry.

"Something wrong?" he asked, voice full of concern. She was still silent, but then, shook her head reassuringly. The last thing she wanted to do was make her brother worried. She knew for a fact that Carol wasn't one to worry, in fact, she was a lot like her brother when it came to making plans into actions. She went head-on with whatever tried to phase her; bravery. Something Anne felt like she had been lacking.

"You sure?" he asked.

Another nod. _'Being quiet won't make it any more easy on him... I'd better start talking.'_ she thought.

"Where are the books? Didn't you just finish organizing them so they would be at the _perfect_ height for us?" Anne put more emphasis on 'perfect' because she knew how nutty her brother was when it came to organizing.

He sighed. "I'm not sure where they've gone. Maybe Grams sent them to good will and tried to make it up for us by getting us these journals. But hard-covered books aren't an easy buy. You think she'd know that with all of her hard-covered cookbooks…"

Anne stared, but shook her head. "She wouldn't… would she? I mean… I know it's good for the other kids that can't get the chance to read them, but we haven't even finished the fourth one yet…"

"Well, whatever happened to them, they're long gone. We're going to have to find another way to get them… what pays good?"

"A real job?" Anne questioned simply. He stared blankly, which meant she'd have to clarify to her lame joke. "We're too young to get jobs; the youngest is sixteen-years-old, unless we get into acting or some kind of career like that. But no one in our family will approve of us doing it. Not yet at least."

Hugo gave a frustrated sigh, knowing that she was all too right. The youngest twin was timid, but she knew how to restrain his leash when she wanted to. He guessed that it must have been common between most twins to be able to calm or dominate one another, but then again, they hadn't met that many twins. Well, not together at least, which was something he thought was weird.

'_Why wouldn't you want to spend the days with your twin?' _He asked himself.

The boy looked back towards his empty journal and sighed as he shut it, tossing it lightly towards the floor. For a second, he thought he was going crazy, but the way he saw his sister stare with horror, she had seen the book hop back into his hand. He raised his brows up, trying to make sense of the laws of gravity.

He decided to 'experiment' with it, tossing it again. This time, when the book bounced back, the tiger roared. Hugo dropped it onto the desk while jumping out of his seat. He grabbed Anne's journal and tossed it on top of his journal, getting ready to get out of the room. The tiger roared again, but this time, the cub yelped loudly with the king of the jungle.

Frantically, Hugo grabbed his sister's hand and bolted out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him as if the tiger and cub had popped out of the journals and started chasing after them. Surely, he must have been loosing his mind. His sister must have been just as crazy as he was; they were twins anyways, so they must have had some sort of linked connection. They needed to get out of the house, and quick.

Carol had heard the door slam and came running towards them, carrying a journal that looked very much like theirs, but it was smaller (like a memo book). Hugo stared wide-eyed as he saw a glimpse of silver at the bound of the journal. He snatched it from Carol's hand and there was a silver Zebra engraved into it. He opened the door quick enough to hear the tiger roaring with the cub's complaining and tossed it into the room, slamming the door shut before the book came back into Carol's hand. They all heard a thump and then a zebra starting to whine as if it had been interrupted from getting a drink from the watering pool.

"What—"

"We need to get out of here. Quick." Hugo panicked. Both sisters eyed each other, never thinking that they'd see the day when their 'back-boned' brother would be terrified.

"The zoo?" Anne questioned. Had Hugo been paying attention, he would have told her how crazy that would have been. They practically owned a zoo in their room.

"Fine. Carol, can you take us? Please?"

Carol nodded slowly, taken aback from his politeness. "Sure."

Usually he acted rude and impatiently under steam or any other uncharacterized behavior. Then again, he _had_ been going through many types of behavior changes today.

* * *

Tigers weren't afraid of anything and were one of the strongest feline in the Cat Kingdom. Although these cats were brave, a cat was still a cat, and what that meant is that they could be lazy. Hugo remembered reading about lions in an encyclopedia, that while the male feline would rest in the cave, the lionesses would go and hunt the antelope. It reminded him of the many times he would use to stay over his best friend's, Luc, house; while Luc's dad would read the paper on his chair, he and Luc would be watching a cartoon show and his mom would go grocery shopping with Luc's sister and Anne. He didn't remember a day staying there that Luc's dad would get out of his seat and offer to go grocery shopping.

Now, more than ever, he wished that he was as brave as a tiger, but in truth he had been a cowardly feline stuck in a tree. How pitiful he felt.

The zoo was crowded with families who wanted to go out on a Saturday afternoon with their children, something Anne wasn't too comfortable with because of a fear of getting lost. She clutched onto her sister's hand as she licked her vanilla ice cream off of her cone, careful not to let it slip. Hugo kept his Popsicle into his mouth as he walked ahead of them, trying to find other places to head to.

He definitely knew that he didn't want to see any tigers, bears or zebras. Hopefully, they were all sleeping pleasantly in the room without any fuss. The last thing they needed was a neighbor calling the cops for disruption of peace, or worse, their grandmother finding the books and throwing it out. He pictured the journals being tossed in the trashcan, only to be vaporized and reappear into each Parkinson siblings' hands.

So far they'd seen the monkeys, giraffes, and lions (something he tried to convince his sisters were completely different from tigers). He knew very well that Anne was starting to get antsy to see the birds, but he knew that there would be owls there and he really wanted to keep his mind off of Harry Potter (or anything that had to do with magic). He also wanted to see something cool, or maybe even just a little 'off the edge', just to claim back his bravery.

'_But which animal?'_ Hugo thought.

Then it hit him.

Hugo snapped out of his train of thought as Anne tugged onto his sweater that hung around his hips. Anne had left hers home, but felt fine with what she was wearing. "Can we go to the bird's house? I want to find that humming bird from last time… or an owl."

"Why don't we go check out the reptiles first? It's only a short walk, compared to where the bird's house is. I want to see a Boa."

Anne quivered, but Hugo insisted. "We'll go to the bird's house right after. I'm sure your hummingbird will still be there. Besides, the Boa will be in its –" before he could say 'cage', he heard screaming and families running out of the reptile house. He whirled around, putting his arm out like a shield (in front of Anne) as he saw a Boa Constrictor slithering out. The boa ignored the cries and hollers for staff and security assistance, then eyed the twins. Hugo stepped closer to Anne as she duck behind the outstretched arm, clutching her journal tightly as Hugo gripped his with his other hand. He was trembling so much that she could see it in his hands, vibrating like her sister's cell-phone did when she had gotten a voice mail.

The snake approached them slowly, then, raised its head so they made eye contact. They heard Carol's scream to run, but they were frozen stiff, ignoring the shrieks of horror and chaos that surrounded them. Everything, everyone and everywhere had slowly started to tear away from them, fade away as if it was nonexistent. The Boa hissed with meaning, but Hugo didn't quite catch what it was saying; it was just a mutter. The only word that seemed to make sense was 'luck' while everything else seemed to be a blur whispers. Once the snake broke his contact, their surrounding had the feeling as though it was being fast forward to the present. Hugo turned towards Anne, only to see that she had fainted and countless blob-for-faces were surrounding her.

One of the blobbed men patted a hand on his shoulder, asking if he was all right. Hugo hadn't realized that his jaw had been stretched out to a gape, but was too terrified to adjust it. Then, he heard something very loud, a harsh shriek and then a booming voice. The boy whipped his head, gazing back towards the reptile house, watching as a mother hugging her little boy who was wrapped into a blanket. He was soaked to the bone, shivering just as violently as Hugo had. In front of them, a very large and plump man had grabbed a skinny-looking boy by the hair as the walked out. Hugo blinked as he thought he had seen a scar on the boy's forehead, but guessed that he had been so terrified that his eyes had been playing tricks on him.

It wasn't until now, he realized that his vision had been getting much better than before, because when he looked back the faces were no longer blobs, they were emergency doctors. Hugo glanced over towards Carol, seeing that her cell-phone that was in her hand as she explained to the doctors what had happened.

They nodded, then, two of them gently hoisted Anne up and placed her onto an emergency bed. Had Hugo been paying attention, he would have noticed that two more men were placing him on a mattress as well, but by the time his head rested everything was pitch black.

* * *

"Annette? Sweet pea, could you wake up for mommy? Please?"

The girl winced as she heard her full name being called by a honey-sweet voice. The voice that whispered in her sleep, cradled her every night ever since the day she was born. Mom. The word was so easy to say, but she couldn't find the strength to move her lips. She still remembered the terrible day when the siblings had tried to go to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The same exact day when their books had disappeared. The minute that they had encountered that serpent, and the most frightening part of all, she had understood every word that the Boa had said.

No. That day couldn't have possibly been real if her mother was talking to her, otherwise they'd be in the United States. That's right. That horrible nightmare was all in her head, just like the night where she had thought she saw the strangers. They had an airy appearance, not exactly transparent, but they were solid but fuzzy. Almost like the people in a memory or dream. Anne was almost sure that the moment that she opened her eyes, that she'd be lying in her own bed next to her brother's room, where she didn't have to compete to see who could block who out better with their Walkman. Where grandmother wouldn't take their Walkman for arguing about them.

But as Anne let her eyes open, she felt horrified as she saw the glimpse of unrecognizable corners in the room. She had suddenly become aware of the beeping sound, like a heart-monitor. For a split second, the heartbeat went off the chart, but half a second later, the heart rate was fairly normal. She felt her mother squeezing her hand gently, while the other hand soothingly brushed away the strands of hair that covered her face from tossing and turning. Her face was no longer pale, but her eyes were red from exhaustion and her body had not loosened by much. If she had been in the hospital, than the incident with the snake was real. There were no dreams. It was the reality.

"I'm so sorry sweet pea. Your brother should have known you're terrified of reptiles. I'm going to have a talk with him when he wakes up."

Anne shook her head, then, opened her mouth. When she spoke she realized how croaked her voice sounded, which must have meant that she'd been screaming sometime in her sleep. She could easily tell that it was nighttime, but didn't know how long she'd been sleeping. "The snake was loose. We didn't even step close to the reptiles."

She gave an admiring sigh. "You don't have to put up with your brother like this, you know? You could let him know how you feel."

"I do…" She said with almost a wining tone, as if she'd done something bad.

Her mother gave a kind smile. "All right, all right, sweet pea. Now I know you've slept for two days, but you're going to have to try and rest up a bit, okay?"

Anne nodded.


	3. Special Delivery and Magical Mishaps

**Disclaimer:** The letters are very accurate from the first Harry Potter book and are completely owned by J.K. Rowling as well as her main characters and a few quotes from the book in Chapters 3 and 4. I own my made ups.

* * *

_"I'll need something to look forward to..."_

* * *

CHAPTER THREE: **Special Delivery and Magical Mishaps**

Hugo had woken up later that evening, lying on his own hospital bed with the heart monitor connected to his finger. He guessed that the adults wanted to make sure that neither twin had a concussion or any venom from the snake. The thought of the snake made him quiver but what was bothering him was that he could only understand so little of what the snake was saying. Why would the snake mention 'luck'? Was it good luck or bad luck? He breathed heavily through his nose, deciding that now wasn't exactly the best time to think about it.

He needed to sleep. Otherwise, he would be sleeping in the afternoons.

"Hugo?"

The boy turned his head towards the soft whisper. The voice was familiar, but the tone of concern that came with him surprised him. Carol wiped a bit of drool from the corner of her lip, which either meant that she was daydreaming about someone or that she had just woken up from a long nap. Either way, her chair had been moved close enough so she could watch him in his deep sleep in case he had needed something. This hit him hard, but in a good way.

Hugo hadn't been use to her taking care of him with such passion. Every time that he or Anne had wanted to do something and required her to be chaperone, it seemed to him that it was nothing more than a chore to her. Now, he realized how many times she had protected them as they were growing up. All that time her large shadow of friends had been blocking it. He slowly started to feel the appreciation of having an older sibling and he reminded himself that some day he would have to do the same for Anne when Carol had left to go to college. That thought made him even more nervous than encountering a giant snake.

"Hugo, are you feeling better?" Carol asked.

Too tired to reply verbally (but too anxious to sleep), the younger sibling nodded shortly. Her blood-shot eyes with tear stains, stiff shoulders, and rosy nose shifted down to an at-ease posture, making the frozen atmosphere settle down to a very pleasurable air. She sat back into the wooden armchair, crossing her legs femininely and laced her fingers onto her lap. The silence had not disturbed the atmosphere at all, but Hugo felt that there was something that had been out of place, or rather, the thing had been forgotten or pushed aside.

"Mom's in Anne's room. Just across the hall." Carol commented.

He nodded shortly again, feeling a tinge of pain that he had not given thought to asking where his baby sister was. Then again, he had been so use to being around Anne for so long, that he had assumed that she had already been in the room. After all, Anne was a quiet and timid girl.

Another pause.

If the maid-Carol had been there, she would have sighed exasperatedly by now, but this 'new' Carol didn't seem to be giving up. She must have felt sorry for the twins after seeing them in a panicked state.

"… Do you still want to see the photo?"

Hugo's eyes lit up. "The Platform?"

She nodded and detached her hands from her stomach, pulling her camera bag onto her lap and rummaged one hand into the bag while the other kept it still. She pulled out a corner-bent photograph (like the ones that were instantly developed through the slot). He knew that Carol preferred the 'old' methods of using a camera, rather than easily develop them by printing them out. The photo was handed to Hugo who took it patiently.

He examined the photograph carefully, but wasn't too shocked to see that the Platform was different than what he had seen it a few days ago. He looked back towards Carol, thanking her politely, and handed it back to her. "I want to keep it when we get home."

Carol looked towards him hesitantly.

"What?"

She sighed. "Do you still want to stay here with Grandma?"

"Of course." Hugo replied simply.

She nodded. "All right then. But for now, get some sleep. You really look awful."

"I'll try… you don't look so great yourself." Hugo mumbled.

* * *

The next afternoon, the twins could finally leave to their grandmother's house. To make sure that neither one had another experience of traumatizing panic, their mother decided that it was best if she stayed in London with them for a few weeks until things had gotten better. But on the contrary, things had gotten way out of hand and down right bewildering.

Anne had made her very first fit at the dining room table, over a discussion whether the twins were going back to America or not. Her glass cup had flown across the table into the wall, but the odd thing was, when Hugo came to pick up the mess, the glass had already been put into perfect condition, like it had never broken in the first place. Grandmother Clair had acted as though it never happened, but Carol had decided to go and clean up the soda from the wood. Their mother was too horrified by both, her daughter throwing her first tantrum, and secondly that the glass had moved on its own. But the next day she had insisted that Anne had pushed it across the table and it had rolled off towards the wall.

Another time, Hugo remembered having to sit through a tea party while Anne was off shopping with Carol and their mother, leaving him to be in torture with cheek-pinching grandmothers and great-aunts but as one of the sweet old women tried to come and kiss him all over his face, but as she walked over towards him, one of the floor boards flipped up, tripping her off balance as he dove away from her painted lips. Since then, Grandmother Claire had refused to take him to anymore tea parties (which he silently thanked her for).

Then, there was the day when the twins were tricked by their Grandmother to be sent home with her mother to America. When they met their mother at the airport, they were on the impression that they were seeing her off, but Grandmother Clair had finally admitted how fumed she had been with the twins and was sending them home. Suddenly, the cloudless sky was overpowered with the darkness of storm clouds, making the most devious snowstorm London had ever seen. After several hours of waiting, the Grandmother had given up on sending them home, so the American Parkinson family had stayed in Great Britain.

There had also been a few scandalous mishaps of a frightening dog turning into a teacup, cookbooks being thrown everywhere whenever one of the twins would sleep downstairs (Hugo swearing that she had heard something flapping during the evening), Grandmother's garden blooming in a miraculously short time, and even poor Tommy Clark had been found stuck in his chimney after he had continuously pulled Anne's hair because she had decided to put them in braids for the day. He never bothered her since then.

Grandmother Clair had finally lost it during breakfast. She had sworn (for the fifth time) that she was going to send them home. The twins were doubtable about this, seeing as every time they had been to the airport there was some sort of terrible weather that canceled flights. They just ignored her as she continued on.

"I don't care if there's a hurricane! They are going home."

"Grandmother, I'm sure it's just a phase the twins are going through. They _are_ almost twelve."

"But _you_ never threw my cookbooks around the house." she pointed out.

"And I never had a twin. But please—"

Their grandmother squawked as she saw an owl swoop through the kitchen window, dropping two letters into the sugar bowl. Anne and Hugo were as calm as ever, but the other three grown woman were acting as though a nuclear bomb had just been set off. Both twins reached for the sugar bowl and grabbed the letter that was closest to them, reading the front of the envelopes aloud in union. The only differences between their letters were their initials, but they found it interesting that both addresses were remarkably accurate. Once they read the letters, the women remained silent. The only noise made in the room was the restless burrowing owl.

The twins turned their letters around, feeling the red-waxed with the letter 'H' engraved on it. They tore the seal, pulling out their letters and started to read their letters.

"HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE."

They had too much of a hard time to pronounce the words underneath the headmaster's name, so they moved onto their salutations, which were different from each other, but after they said their names, their words were still synchronized perfectly.

"_Dear Mr. Hugo Parkinson,_

"_Dear Ms. Annette Parkinson,_

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

_Deputy Headmistress_"

"No, no, no!" Their grandmother shrieked. "I will not have my grandchildren go to a school of rubbish! They _will_ graduate at the best universities of the world!"

"Mother Claire, I believe that is my choice if they go or not."

"_You_? You could barely take care of the beasts! You shipped them off to me the second you knew they obtained magic!"

Anne and Hugo stared at each other, horrified.

"I think both of you are taking things too irrationally…" Carol said.

The eldest women shot glances towards her. The grandmother scoffed. "Irrationally? Dear child, you haven't even gotten a college acceptance letter. You probably wouldn't be able to comprehend what was going."

"If they decide to go, they go." Carol said simply. "You, after all, said that they have gotten out of hand. If they knew how to control it, there would be no more mayhem."

Grandmother Clair was silent. She glanced back at the impatient bird, staring into its large glass eyes. She looked back towards her grandchild. "I will not go to get their supplies." She replied stubbornly.

"Then _I_ will." Their mother replied. She grinned towards the twins, who both beamed towards her. As if the biggest Harry Potter fans would pass up the opportunity to go to _the_ Hogwarts.

"We definitely accept it." The twins chanted in union.

After Carol had written the confirmation letter, Anne asked if she could give it to the owl and before it left she gave her a leftover scallop. The twins were sent to their room, both not refusing the order of their mother. No doubt the three women would continue the discussion and neither twin needed magic or telepathic powers to prove their theory.

Anne plopped onto her bunk giddily while Hugo went over towards the bookcase. He raised a brow as he saw the two journals back in their empty bookshelf that had previously been filled with comic books that Hugo had bought a few days ago. They were all neatly stacked beside the bookcase in the same order he had put them in. But he found it odd that there were two new packages next to them that said 'Do not open until Halloween'.

Hugo sighed with frustration, ignoring the packages warnings and pulled out his own. He tried pulling the tiny rope off of his, but it wouldn't budge, as if it was made of a blanket material. He doubted that if he could tear the package, that scissors would be of any use. He was back to his old fumed self once again, not at all minding all of the mishap and misunderstanding.

He had been particularly pleased by his father's gift that he knew must have once belonged to him in his 'chaotic' stage. It was a slingshot, something that he found very 'interesting' and cool. He still hadn't figured out what to use it for, so he kept it stashed into his old shoebox so no one would confiscate it.

Anne giggled at her brother's expressions as he tried tearing it apart. He finally gave up after ten minutes, tossing it back onto the shelf. He was glad that it did not repeat the journals and fly back onto his hand; instead, it flipped itself up to the 'Do not open until Halloween' side.

"What was that?" Anne asked.

Hugo shrugged. "Must be magic-protected. We'll have to wait and see what's inside during Halloween."

"You don't think a troll will be let loose, will you?"

Another shrug. "We'll have to see when we get there."

Anne looked out towards the window. "Do you think we'll go to Diagon Alley today?"

Hugo shook his head. "I doubt it. Mom doesn't know where it is, and we've got lessons. Besides, I wanted to see if we could go the same day as Harry did."

"Hugo, it's not like we're going to meet him. He doesn't exist."

Hugo raised a brow. "You didn't see it? Oh, of course you didn't."

"See? See what?" Anne asked dumbfounded.

"Back at the zoo…" Hugo started slowly. Anne tensed as he continued, "… I saw a skinny boy with a lightning scar. I think so, anyways."

Anne sighed. "Hugo, your mind must have played tricks on you. You were just as panicked as I was."

"That's not the point. And it would make sense why the Boa had gotten loose! Harry made the glass vanish, remember?"

Anne was quiet as he pressed on. Then, she turned away from him and pulled out her Walkman to block him out. She didn't want to, but she didn't want to think about the snake either. She still hadn't told him what she remembered what she heard that day. It frightened her.

Hugo rolled his eyes and looked towards the bookshelf that bore the packages and journals. He still hadn't figured out what the journals were for, but he was still curious why the twins had been left presents if they couldn't use them and whenever they'd try to throw it out, they would reappear back in the same spot. He didn't have a doubt in his mind that the packages would act the same if he tried to, so he left them there and climbed up the bunk ladder.

Later on that day, the packages and letters had been pushed aside from their daily chores and learning. The twins continued with their tutoring lessons while their Grandmother went on to her tea gathering. Anne had continued to daydream about what it would be like to enter the Great Hall while Hugo was too busy planning on what kinds of spells would be good for pranks. But as always, Anne would get into trouble for lack of writing, and because she wrote with her left hand it would have been slapped with a ruler on that hand and be forced to write with her right hand. As the tutor reached for the ruler, it slipped out of his hand and slapped it.

Hugo barked out laughing as the ruler slipped out of the tutor's hand and started slapping him hard in the rump. The ratty man ran out of the house as the ruler threatened to chase after him. Once the tutor was out of earshot, Anne started to giggle mouseishly.

"Grandma's going to be mad again…" Anne sighed.

"But it's only more reason of why we should go to Hogwarts." Hugo countered with a grin. "Hey, since we're pretty much done with tutoring, let's—"

_"OUT!" _cried one of the neighbors.

Hugo raised one of his eyebrows with curiosity. "I wonder what's eating him… to yell so loudly across the street."

"Hugo, no. Please… he sounds scary."

"What would you rather do? Fight a troll or sneak on a grumpy neighbor?"

Anne paused for a moment, then, sighed. "Fine."

* * *

"No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer…"

Anne cringed as her brother stood on her hunched back as he tried to listen through the cracked window in the kitchen. He ducked down when he had thought the blueberry-shaped man had glanced towards the window. He guessed it must have been a squirrel and went on with his conversation to the tall woman who looked like his wife. When he thought it was safe, the last thing the man had said was: "dangerous nonsense?" The conversation sounded awfully familiar, but Hugo couldn't place it.

He plopped off of his sister's back and sat down beside her as she patted her denim jeans. She found it annoying that he was always the one that got to hear what the people were saying, but then again, she didn't want to have an eavesdropping habit.

"Weird." Hugo whispered. They continued the conversation in hushed tones so they wouldn't be caught.

Anne blinked, "Weird what?"

"Well, I saw them at the zoo that day and the woman just called him 'Vernon'. I remember that the tall woman was at that one tea party I had been forced to go to. I think her name was Petunia Dursley…"

Anne stared for a minute. "Are you sure? Did she say anything about a son?"

He nodded. "He said she had a son about our age and wouldn't shut up about him. Sounds like a real porker with a bad case of spoiledtitus. I asked if she had a nephew and she looked at me very… weird. Then she went on about 'Dudley' as if I never said anything."

"Weird." Anne agreed. "But it doesn't mean that they're the same as the ones in the books." she pointed out.

Hugo shrugged. "I think they're one and the same. Just you wait, I'll prove it."

"Whatever you say… anyways, we should probably get home. It won't be any good if we're caught."

That was easier said then done, since every once in a while Petunia Dursley had been close by the window, cleaning her dishes. If either one would have gotten up, or moved an inch, the woman would more than likely see. So they waited until the sun was completely gone from the sky so they could start heading off towards their grandmother's house, but Hugo stopped a moment as he heard an unfamiliar voice.

"Wait, c'mere." Hugo whispered as he grabbed Anne's shoulder. She groaned. "Hugo, we're already in enough trouble as it is. Can't we go home?"

"Get on my back." he insisted as he bent down to his hands and knees. The youngest twin sighed, rolling her eyes. "If we do, can we go home?"

"Yes. Just hurry."

Anne obeyed him, lowering her head to make sure that none of the family members would be able to notice she had been peeking. Oddly enough, the window was still slightly ajar.

"Er—yes Harry,"

Anne gasped softly as she saw the skinny boy with jade eyes. His bangs slipped back for a moment, revealing a lightning bolt, but it was quickly hidden. As if he knew it bothered his relatives whenever his scar showed. She ducked quickly after she thought Dudley had looked out the window, but he probably hadn't. Otherwise, he probably would have ratted her out.

"It's him, it's him!" Anne hissed excitedly as she bounced off of her brother's back. He grinned while his eyes practically spoke and said: "I told you so."

"But what do we do now? Doesn't he go off abroad to avoid the letters?"

Hugo's grin grew wider. "We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

Anne frowned. "But then, Harry won't meet Hagrid."

"True…" Hugo whispered. "… Which means we'll still see him at school. We could wait until then, right?"

Anne nodded. "Right."


	4. Determination, Paranoia and Rugs

Did you really think Hugo was going to be that patient? I hope my story is entertaining enough...

I do not own J.K. Rowling's characters, plot or wizardly world. I only own my Parkinson made ups (the name comes from the book, so I don't even own their last name...)

* * *

_"I'll need something to look forward to..."_

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR: **Determination, Paranoia and Enchanted Rugs**

That was easier said than done.

Anne knew Hugo better than anyone; he'd try and come up with some clever way to get out of the house no matter what. To make sure that he wasn't going to go through the window, she tried to focus her magic to try and keep the window secure, but instead it was severely patched up with yellow tape that was better than super glue. She decided that it was better than nothing so she didn't argue with her magic's reasoning and covered up the mess with the curtains. Later on that evening and from the rest of the week the Dursleys had remained at home, she started to sleep next to the staircase with a blanket and her stuffed lamb, just incase he tried to sneak out from downstairs. She'd been right, of course, but even as she slept a book or two would 'attack' him until he went back upstairs. When she woke up, the books were back in their place and the yellow glue-tape had disappeared each night.

On Friday, Hugo had woken up early and saw that the letters were tossed carelessly outside on the porch. He tried to stuff the letters through the mail slot, but to his great disappointment, it had been boarded up, so he tried stuffing them through any crack from the door he could find before Harry would come and get the mail. He even took a few of the left over ones and tried forcing them through the downstairs bathroom. It wasn't much of a success though, since he had decided to casually walk past the house later that day and had heard Mr. Dursley's humming as he drilled boards on the cracks. To be truthfully honest, he had gotten the idea from the book but it didn't seem to do much good when he had tried it. He secretly hoped that his magic would try and help him with his task.

He hadn't told Anne what he had tried to do, but he feared being transfigured into a plate or spoon.

Anne hadn't found out until mother had asked her where Hugo had gone during breakfast (she had slowly developed an overprotective behavior towards Harry's meeting with Hagrid, but had also developed an uncontrollable paranoia). But regardless of her difference of opinion, she made up the excuse that he hadn't been feeling well and didn't want to come downstairs. Later on, Hugo had snuck upstairs and pretended to rest in bed, going along with his sister's plan, glad that he ha at least tried to leave Harry a personal note in his new room (he had shimmied up the tree when the family had been eating breakfast). He hadn't been very descriptive in the letter, just that he _had_ to get one of the letters no matter what (and that he had special talent). The next two days Anne kept a close eye on him, even trying so hard not to blink so she wouldn't miss Hugo getting out of her sight. However, he didn't have to do much. He watched humorously as the milkman gave Mrs. Dursley two-dozen eggs, knowing very well that the letters had been inside them, only to be let down with disappointment to see how stubborn the Dursleys truly were. Hogwarts' magic wasn't having much success (and neither was he).

Sunday, Anne had cleverly tried to convince her mother that Hugo was in need of new school clothes from an outlet at the mall. Once Hugo had found out, he was mortified (as well shocked) when he was informed. As payback, he had told their grandmother that Anne had been dying to go to a tea party all week. The twins didn't speak to each other most of the morning; Anne being too tired to start up an argument while Hugo was downright frustrated with Anne's stubborn behavior.

When Anne had finally fallen asleep, Hugo made a run for the window and climbed out, landing swiftly into the tree branch that pointed at the room. He shimmied down the tree like a spider monkey, then, made a breakthrough to the Dursley house. Oddly enough, Hugo found it perfectly easy for him to spy through the kitchen window that was still slightly ajar. He wondered if they even bothered to shut the glass, but whatever made his day easier was a bonus. The only thing he didn't like was the smug grin that was planted on Mr. Dursley's face. That couldn't have been good.

"No posts on Sundays." He said gleefully.

Hugo snorted, then, ducked as he thought he saw Mrs. Dursley glance towards his direction. Once he was sure the coast was clear, he shot his head back up, looking for the unarmed chimney. _'Why aren't there any letters today?'_ he thought heatedly. The boy jerked his head from left to right, but when he saw no owls nearby he sighed with frustration. No letters, no Harry going to Hogwarts. No Hogwarts, Harry wouldn't know anything about being a wizard. And if nothing happened … the wizardly world, as well as the muggle world, would be doomed.

He felt himself clutching the edge of something rugged, then, as he glanced down. He gaped, realizing that he had been clutching the front of a carpet that was hovering in mid-air. The grip grew tighter, and as if he had pressed the button for a videogame, the carpet set off as fast as lightning with a choking sound of an engine roar. Hugo let out a yell of terror as the rug continued to pick up its speed, and before he knew it, the rug stopped. The poor American boy had realized that he had been sliding off of the enchanted carpet far too quickly, but as he reached the end of the line he clutched the hem for dear life.

Hugo yelled frantically as the carpet tried to shake him off, but he didn't even consider the option of falling who-knows-how-many feet to the ground. The carpet didn't seem to want to give in with the fight and neither did Hugo, but he noticed that his clammy hands had started to become sweaty while the grasp of his fingers became slim. Seconds later, the rug swooped up into a loop, then, down came Hugo with a petrifying scream. His eyes shut tightly as his voice echoed through his hollow throat, feeling the air rush past him (or him rush past the air). After a few minutes of a horrible screaming fit, it finally dawned onto him that the air had stopped rushing. He felt as though his body was numb and paralyzed, which had made him extremly frightened. He started to think that he was dead.

But that thought was pushed aside as he felt a gentle, heartwarming hand being placed on his forehead. Then, a voice spoke out to him in a question. His head had been spinning too much for him to understand what the person had been saying, but once his vision became clearer than before, he saw that a red headed woman had been hunching over him. Something had told him that he should have known who this woman was, but hadn't a clue. Shortly after the dizzy spell passed, her British accent became more clear and understandable.

"Are you all right boy?" she asked.

He nodded wearily.

She sighed with relief but right after her tone changed motherly. "Well, that's what you get for riding and enchanted carpet! A jinxed one no less! Why, if my boys ever had gotten a hold of one of those things…" she started to bicker to whatever punishment that seemed to come into mind. Some of the remarks that Hugo heard made him quiver with fear. He wouldn't want to be disobedient to this mother. It finally occurred to her that the boy had still been lying on the ground, wide-eyed with shock from either the horrendous fall, or the terrifying punishments that she ranted. She caressed her hand across his cheek soothingly with an apologetic expression.

"I'm so sorry. Why don't we get you inside and I'll get you a bite to eat."

"N-no t-thanks… I'm s-suppose to b-be home. My mum'll get worried…"

He winced as she insisted again, then, allowed her to pick him up and walk past the garden into the house. It was a cozy little home, but Hugo didn't spend his time admiring the 'home-sweet-home' atmosphere. He was more worried about what _Anne_ would do to him if she found out that he had ran away (or more accurately, flew) from home to inform Harry, and he had been invited into a stranger's house. He shuddered when he first experienced Anne's tantrum and wondered if her fury was more dangerous than the woman that placed him in a lunch table. From then on, he decided to go with whatever the woman said.

"Care for some sausages?" she asked.

"Please." Hugo replied politely, scrunching his face as she turned her back. He hated sausage, preferring bacon, but he didn't want to be rude.

He finally brought enough courage to ask where he was.

"Why, your at our burrow of course, well, us being the Weasleys that is. We're not very rich, but the house is lovely."

"Lovely." Hugo repeated in agreement. He finally struck horror, but timidly changed his expression as she turned around. "Did you just say Weasley?"

"Why yes, I did. Wait, you aren't with the Malfoys are you?"

He shook his head feverously, then, the woman sighed with relief.

"Honestly, I wouldn't know what Arthur would do…"

Since then, Hugo remained silent as Mrs. Weasley had graciously cooked breakfast fit enough for three cows, then, he slowly started to wonder if he was going to meet any of the other Weasley children. _'No.'_ Hugo thought. _'If Anne's so dedicated of me not interfering with Harry, she'd have a heart-attack if I started talking to Ron… or Ginny.' _He felt his ears turn a bright shade of pink as he had found out some spoilers of the fifth book. Since then, he had admired Ginny, but had grown a small tinge of jealousy towards Harry. He shook his head to himself as he thought of sneaking away from Mrs. Weasley and taking a peek to Ginny's room. _'Forget teapots. Anne'd_ kill_ me for going into a girl's room. Carol'd hold me still, while mum would nag at me for being a Peeping Tom.'_ He thought. Even _if_ she hadn't been in the room, he was still unsure if any of the children were home. As much of a fan he was, he couldn't risk it. His head jerked as he saw Mrs. Weasley place a full plate of every breakfast product available within the household.

"There you go. Eat up while it's still nice and warm." She said kindly.

Hugo nodded, taking the fork and knife in each hand, absentmindedly going for the sausages. As he took a bite of the meat, he started to notice how hungry he had been for skipping breakfast. Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to take much mind as he started to practically inhale the food like a savage (as his mother would say), but actually took it as a compliment. He knew his mother would not approve of his inappropriate table manners, but he couldn't help that he was so hungry. Halfway in the food, he took a chug at the juice in front of him and then continued to dissolve the food until the plate looked so clean that you could probably change a baby's diaper on it.

"Seconds?" she asked.

Hugo opened his mouth to reply, but something at the corner of his eye caught him. He turned quickly to spot a noble-looking owl standing on the end of the pole. Mrs. Weasley beamed proudly. "That's our third oldest son's owl, Hermes. He's a little more dependable than Earl, but they both do with the mail just fine."

"Has he gone to Hogwarts lately?" Hugo asked. "The owl, I mean."

"No, not yet. We just got him not too long ago, but he'd probably find the castle just fine. Owls are so reliable these days… oh! Are you a student?"

Hugo nodded proudly. "First year. Still need to get school stuff though… I've got a sister too. She's thrilled to go."

"Lovely! Ron'll have friends. I know! You could meet him now. RON!"

Hugo's face turned pale. "Er, no. That's not necessary. I'm sure if we meet at school, it'll be all just the same."

"Don't be silly. I'm sure Ron will be thrilled."

"No—Please. You don't understand…" he started. He felt himself sinking into his chair each time Mrs. Weasley called out Ron's name. When he knew that he couldn't get her attention, he finally decided to blurt out something that would keep her quiet. The second she whipped her head (halfway calling 'Ronald's name) he wish he hadn't.

"Harry Potter is going to Hogwarts?" she repeated, dazed.

He nodded slowly. "But only if he gets his letter."

The woman laughed. "Nonsense dear, every student at Hogwarts gets their letters quickly."

Hugo shook his head. "He still hasn't had a chance to look at it. I'm a neighbor of his and I've seen what his uncle's done so he can't read it."

Once he wasn't too sure she was convinced, he started to explain each and every incident that he could remember perfectly and she stared in shock.

"That's _horrible_! We'll just have to contact Professor Dumbledore at once."

* * *

Anne gazed warily towards the women at the lace-clothed table. She felt shame as her grandmother had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to the couch for bending forward too many times (with droopy eyes). The old woman had even forbidden her granddaughter for falling asleep, with the fear of her magic capability slipping and causing mayhem. She paid half attention to the women as they gossiped about the Dursleys, now that Petunia had left (Anne being the only one who knew that they were at an inn). Her eyes drooped sluggishly as she sat in the living room of an unfamiliar house.

"Poor Petunia. The neighbors have said that Vernon's been yelling a lot lately, thinking that he's gone mad."

"It's true. I heard he tried calling the dairy and the post office to stop sending those letters."

"But who are the letters for?"

"I haven't a clue."

'_Harry Potter, that's who.'_ Anne thought. She almost spoke the name aloud, but stopped herself after the first 'r'. Neither of the women seemed to pay attention to her, possibly because they knew that she was Hugo's twin and assumed she was just as bad as he was, or they had really bad hearing because of their old ages, which was something Hugo would say. Anne thought they were fairly young, but they did have odd appearances. She found it even more bizarre that they had dressed up 'fancy' like in the old days, rather than dress casually like their grandmother from America had, but then again, she didn't know what the tea party attire had been.

"… I heard that the letters came out from the chimney. And even this morning I heard a holler. I could have sworn I thought I saw a little boy holding onto a carpet."

"Now Beth, that's just posh-talk."

Anne's eyes struck with horror, only one person coming to mind. He'd been gone the whole entire morning without a trace, and since then, Anne had been a worrywart over Hugo having any sort of connection with Harry. Or worse—Mr. Dursley could have caught him spying on them. The tired girl wondered why her brother had to be such a reckless child. But the fact that neither of the women mentioned that he had yelled at a boy, that was a good thing. There had been another positive turnout since the 'attack of the chimney letters':

The Dursleys were gone (with Harry), for now, which meant that Anne probably had more chance of sleep. She wouldn't have to keep an eye on her disobeying brother, who she might have called a hypocrite if it hadn't been for the fact that this was all too obvious. He probably had even said it so he wouldn't worry her and would have done it behind her back, or she was being paranoid due to lack of sleep. She knew very well that her magic acted whenever she had an overwhelming feeling whether it was fear, anger or exhaustion. If she fell asleep now, for all she knew one of the women would turn into a scallop. She recalled a time when she turned a German Shepard into a tiny teacup, and started to giggle tiredly. She was quiet when she saw her grandmother staring at her with a skeptical expression, so she tried to remain silent the rest of the hour.

During the car drive back home, Grandmother Claire had still refused the acceptance of Anne sleeping in the car until she had gotten to her room, and like the timid girl she was, she obeyed. This was exactly why the girl hadn't liked the idea of talking to her grandmother several weeks ago; the fear of her barking orders. She had enough orders from Hugo, but even he wasn't _this_ demanding. _'But she was so nice when we had first came here…' _She thought. Anne suddenly realized a difference in her behavior, ever since after she had started going to the tea parties. Grandmother had suddenly been quiet, grumbling as she walked and now this. Or perhaps it was after the incident at the zoo? She quivered as she remembered the zoo.

Anne didn't know where or when, but she had accidentally drifted off to sleep. Since her grandmother hadn't spoken yet, she guessed that the woman hadn't realized that her granddaughter had fallen asleep. Then, she remembered hearing a loud squeak from the wheels and constant honking, but when Anne opened her eyes, the entire car (and everything in it) was on top of a house. Grandmother continued to shriek loudly as the car tilted back and forth (from the weight of Clair being in the front and Anne as well as who knows what remained in the trunk).

"I don't care if the school starts in September! I'll ship you off myself!" she cried.

* * *

"Number 9, Privet Drive!" Hugo shouted.

He tossed the powder Mrs. Weasley had given him and out came the emerald flames, but instead of burning Hugo had disappeared. When he appeared, he was sliding down Grandmother Claire's chimney and slipped through the wooden floor until he hit the tacky-fabric couch. Soot came flying all over the place, but as he coughed from the ashes he heard a screaming voice demanding that he went to his room. The boy obeyed, patting two pairs of chocolate frogs in his pocket. He'd have to give two to his sister, just like he had promised Mrs. Weasley that he would.

When he arrived in the room, Hugo grinned widely as he saw his sister sleeping soundlessly in her bunk, catching up on her lost rest. "Sorry for putting you in hell." He apologized softly. "But that was _wicked_! We _have_ to come visit them sometime during break." he added hopefully. He was disappointed that Mrs. Weasley had confiscated his carpet, but she had insisted (fear of having one of "Ron's friends" sent to Azkaban for illegal usage of magic) in taking it. Like the good boy he had pretended to be, he agreed to it.

He turned away and glanced back towards the bookshelf, which now had the items in chronological order: Two journals, one diary with unreadable words, two "Do not open until Halloween" packages, an iron pocket watch with bizarre lettering engraved in it, a small wrapped up rug (big enough for two people), and two scopes big enough to fit around anyone's eye. Each item had been brought the same way that the journals and packages had, but none of them seemed to be very useful, but he figured that once they started to go to Hogwarts, things would be more understandable.

'_Two days until Harry's birthday… he'd be off in Diagon Alley by noon.'_ Hugo thought. He looked back at his sister, feeling awful of what he had to put her through the past couple of days, so he finally put his foot down. _'I _won't_ interfere, but that doesn't mean that I can't keep an eye on him.'_ He thought. He nodded, agreeing that was just what he was going to do. Make sure that everything had gone perfectly in chronological order. Seven years of babysitting. He groaned, thinking of how horrible Carol had felt every single day she had to baby-sit them, giving her a new set of sympathy.

Hugo blinked bewilderedly as he saw the tiger wink at him. When he took no action, the tiger roared, causing Hugo to jump. The journal tossed itself onto the floor, opening into a page with black and silver writing. He stared wide-eyed, picking it up and started to read it silently. His eyes widened slightly, then, he skipped several pages until one page was half written in black, while the rest was written in silver. After each and every second passed, one silver letter would shimmer into a solid black. _'Could this be happening right now?'_ he wondered.


	5. The Nightmare and Jigsaw Puzzles

More interesting stuff...

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE:** The Nightmare and Jigsaw Puzzles

_The never-ending alley was dark and eerie. Although it was wide, the buildings were too high for the sun's rays to bleak through and it only made it that much harder to think that I could possibly get through without the monster coming after me. This chase was nothing more to him than a simple game—cat and mouse—but it was my worst nightmare. I suddenly remembered how I had always made excuses for not playing tag or hide-in-go-seek because I always felt like I was the one who was falling behind or the one who was always caught. And no doubt this beautiful-looking creature could snatch me up within the blink of an eye, but he wanted some fun. For some reason, I had forgotten how I had ended up like this and didn't know why he was after me. He just was._

_The prince called to me with a perfectly even voice, a sound that the Altos would be jealous of: "You can't run from me forever, Annette!" Look at me now, I thought sarcastically. But I wasn't getting anywhere; I felt like I was running in the same place in slow motion and what made it worse was the irregular beats of my heart and pants of fear and exhaustion. This must have been a nightmare, I had thought before the game had started. But I wouldn't be feeling anything, my reasoning debated. I wouldn't be able to tell that his skin was cold._

_"Annette, I thought you would be more of a challenge. I guess not…" he mused. "It's getting close to lunch time."_

_Lunch? I repeated. Then I remembered: he was after my blood. The precious liquid that kept my body alive no matter what kind of pain I was in. It was the thick juice that kept my heart beating in a berserk pattern, screaming out to me with mixed messages. The heart either wanted me to keep on running, or it just wanted to give up and explode from the stress. But I stubbornly refused to let that happen._

_That's when something gleaming cut the vision of my eyes._

_It was a blinding light, probably leading off into the streets. If I could just get into the sun… I began. But it had already been too late. The beautiful angel of darkness materialized before me, arms crossed with a disappointed expression filling his face. I couldn't stop myself quick enough to stay out of his reach. He grasped me into an iron hold, crushing me against his legs as he sat in a crouched position that reminded me of a baseball catcher. His ivory arms were crushing me against his torso, my face buried in his bear chest._

_My entire face and neck felt both burnt and numb at the same time, but then, I felt as though billions of tiny iced needles were tearing against my face, but the blood only appeared as a shaded color. People called it blushing._

_He sighed thoughtfully while my eyes were wide-struck. His eyes were now a rosy brown, no longer did they hold the menacing eyes of red. They almost looked human. "You smell like the salty sea, my second favorite." He commented. Then the red color started to dominate the irises._

_I was too traumatized to reply. The first time any real boy had complimented me, was in fact, my killer._

_He pressed his cheek against mine, sighing with admiration to the blood rushing to my cheeks. The sound made my stomach churn into a very tight knot, almost tight enough to make me want to gag. And my mouth dropped at his command, fearing that he might snap my neck in a second. His face was several inches away from mine, then, he blew his minted breath into mine, lips untouched. My bones threatened to jump out of my skin, but I remained silent. What he was doing with me, I hadn't a clue, but it looked as though he was examining me like a doctor. I didn't know what his breath had been for, but I couldn't help but notice that it was a natural smell. Vampires had no need to brush their teeth, or any other humane product and I knew this all too well._

_"Goodnight, my little seagull."_

_And then everything was pitch black._

* * *

Anne's body shot up violently through the sheets of her bed as her mouth tore open, but her throat was too dry to wail like a banshee. Still wide-eyed, she turned her head sideways to the wooden desk, but the gleam of a red light caused her eyes to wince into a natural stare. It was barely three o' clock in the morning, which meant it was Tuesday: Harry's birthday. She knew that she should have been resting, and that Hugo wouldn't have been pleased if she had slept in so they wouldn't miss having a chance to go to Diagon Alley. 'But I can't sleep!' she thought with a sigh. She looked back at the digital clock with a dark stare, wishing deeply that the morning had already come; but she knew that was impossible, even for a witch or wizard.

She pulled herself out of her bunk and groggily steered herself towards the window: It was a cloudless hour with no moon and barely any stars to admire, making Anne's evening of fright feel even more lonely than before. Her brother would snap at her for waking him up over a silly nightmare and Carol wouldn't be much help, since (although she will never admit it) is deathly afraid of vampires. The eldest sibling had sworn at the age of twelve that she had seen a woman with sickly pale skin and fangs in her bedroom, but when their parents came in after she screamed, there was no one in the room except for the crying preteen. Mrs. Parkinson never did believe that there were such things as vampires, even now when the twins were capable of being sorcerers, but not even their father gave his input; he just stood there, shaking his head and leaving the room, or at least that was what Carol had said.

Anne was respectful to never bring up vampires around Carol, but whenever given the chance, Hugo would act up. He even dressed up as Dracula during the year of fourth grade on Halloween, but Carol had stayed home to give out the candy while their mother had taken the twins out in the neighborhood. She shook her head disapprovingly at the thought, but ironically enough, she had dressed up as a witch. Somewhere in their closet, she hid the costume in a box that Grandmother Claire did not know about. She turned around and went for the closet, carefully opening the door so Hugo wouldn't hear, but the back of her mind reminded her that he was a heavy sleeper. Her smooth hair brushed across her cheeks as she bent forward and fumbled through shoeboxes with either twin's name labeled onto it until she found a square, unlabeled box and placed it on the other side of her, tearing the top of the box off with ease.

Inside was a poorly manufactured cloak, but it was enough to keep Anne warm during the October season. She pulled the black object out and started to unfold it, wondering if it still fit her. 'It should…' she thought as she untied the string that kept both sides together. 'I'm still pretty skinny, but it might be a little short on me…' She took a short breath before slipping her arms into the sleeves and retied the strings. As she stood up, her white gown fluttered against the black fabric and examined for any flaws. 'Still in mid-condition…' she nodded with approval. Her head jerked up as she heard the cub whine and kicked the box back into the closet, shutting the door.

It was the first time in days since the animal had made a crying noise, but from what Anne could tell, it sounded as though it was crying out for its mother. Had it been a real cub, she wouldn't have hesitated to come running to it and giving it a gentle squeeze, but any of her family would have been more cautious. Just like she was at that very minute. Her feet crept slowly towards the bookshelf, with several new items that she had never seen before and as she had gotten closer, she had realized that most of these items were on the supplies list. Once she was close enough, the engraved journal popped out of the shelf and onto the floor in front of her, flipping the blank pages until there were shimmering letters beaming through the pages.

As she bent down, she thought she had been going crazy. Two unfamiliar voices were in the middle of a conversation, one of them sound very light and airy while the other was meek and unsure. She couldn't keep up with the conversation from the past, but once the conversation paused again, she took the journal in her hands and started to skim the copper writing until she had caught up to the gray text. The voices started again, and each time a word appeared, the one behind it would glitter into copper text. She was surprised when a woman named "Lady Howl" had started talking.

"So they've been driving their grandmother insane?" A crackling laughter filled the air; for a second, Anne glanced back to Hugo who was still sound asleep. "Wonderful, wonderful. That old woman has been getting on my nerves." With a bright and mocking tone, she continued, "Fine, but I won't take them—like that will ever stop them! She's a good for nothing Squib who's just jealous because she can't even work a lick of magic."

"Lady Howl…" _the second voice began_. Anne finally realized that she had recognized this voice and gaped, 'Beth? From the tea party?'

"I know, I know. Don't scorn the pitiful. But really, if she hadn't been such a rude little thing I would be a bit nicer. If the M. O. M. didn't restrict me from using my magic against Squibs… why…"

"They've restricted you of enchantment as well, milady. Ever since your flying carpet was found with a jinx, Cornillius Fudge has been keeping a watchful eye."

_Lady Howl frowned bitterly and spat out his name like acid._ "Cornillius Fudge is a spineless good-for-nothing lap dog with a hidden agenda. I like their grandmother better than him and I'd rather kiss a Graphorn than like either of the two."

_Beth gave out a sigh and spoke softly._ "Lady Howl, have you only come to my presence to talk bitterly about people?"

_Lady Howl waited a moment, then, shook her head._ "No, that is true." _She sighed._ "I am not sure that you would like to discuss this, but it affects the twins greatly as much as it affects you."

_Beth was perplexed, but then her eyes widened. _"You couldn't mean…"

Before the sentence was finished, the book snapped shut and plopped back onto the shelf. Anne glared at the book with annoyance and reached out for it, but this time the tiger let out a roar. Her hand flinched and her feet started to move quickly for the door. As she reached for it, the door swung towards her, but two firm hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back. She tried to give out a scream, but one of the hands quickly clasped over it with ease. In front of her stood a pale-colored man with rusty brown eyes with a tint of red at the edges. The hostage already knew what the creature was, but she was clueless on who was behind her.

The pale one grinned warily. "So how long have you been spying on these children, Artemis Bedir? Has that old witch been paying you to play guard dog?"

Anne quivered as the man behind her growled menacingly, something she was sure that Hugo would hear, but his words were incomprehensible. She glanced towards his bunk, narrowing his eyes as he turned over muttering something about Chocolate Frogs. Her eyes whipped back towards the man in front of them, who was now inches away from her, hissing at her face. Before she could scream, Artemis tore her away from the vampire and tossed her to the floor. When she got up, he had the vampire in a headlock while the creature tried to struggle to get loose. Helplessly, she crawled backwards until her back was against the wall. She was between the bunk bed and the desk, but somehow she knew that it wasn't enough of a gap to be safe from the creature.

This was not the same vampire of her nightmare, but to be truthful, he looked like a drowned rat, but with the same menacing eyes as her hunter. His hair was a lot lighter as well, but not enough to be blonde; it still had a tone of brown left in the tarnished tawny color. He gave out another slithering hiss, flashing his fangs as he struggled to get loose of Artemis' grip, but the giant man barely even flinched as he struggled. He actually seemed to be enjoying his temper-tantrum as if it were something to laugh at. The vampire finally became still after a few minutes, but did not seem to pant out of exhaustion. He turned back with a complaining look, much like Hugo did when he never got what he wanted. If she hadn't been so terrorized, she might have laughed—and there was also the thought that he might be able to kill her at a simple twitch of a finger. She shivered.

"Bedir, I'm just so… so… I haven't had human blood for months! Just this one."

Anne was confused; she thought that vampires only lived with human blood, so how was he still… surviving?

"I can't let you do that, Caldwell. You'll go nuts once you've had even just a tickle of it, just like last time. That's why Flint had you, and most of the others, drink Gnome blood."

"But it smells so horrible and it tastes awful! I'd rather eat rotten eggs, and I _hate_ eggs!"

"Caldwell, if I were you, I'd get your little vampire fangs back to where they're suppose to be, otherwise the sun will make you act more drunk than when you drink Vodka."

Caldwell was silent for a moment, then, he sighed in defeat. Artemis looked back towards Anne, who was still shivering towards the wall.

"I'll explain everything once you get to _you-know-where_."

Her shivers paused as he turned around while drilling Caldwell to keep moving. A wave of bewilderment blew over her as she wondered what on earth he had meant.

* * *

Artemis and Caldwell were both gone several hours before the sun rose, and Anne had successfully fallen back asleep (after putting the 'cursed cloak' away). At the peak of dawn, Hugo immediately jumped out of his sheets with excitement and climbed down to her sister's bunk, who ignored him as he failed to get her out of bed. Although he was irritated with her, she continued to sleep dreamlessly for another few more hours but then an unexpected voice woke her up. At first, she had thought that she was going crazy, but once she opened her eyes, the tanned man with large muscles was towering over her.

"So _you-know-where_ was here?" Anne asked confused.

"Well, not exactly. The Leaky Cauldron would be much easier to explain things, without your brother's pointless questions."

"He has to get his supplies too, you know?" she informed him.

He grinned, "I know, but your mother's agreed to let me take you instead. Carol's not up for it, since I've informed her that there are occasionally one or two vampires who roam amuck."

"But not in the sun…" Anne pointed out.

He chuckled, "The myth of vampires turning into ashes is just a myth, but it's a lot worse what happens to them. It's almost like they've got the flu while drinking too much booze." Between his sentences, he shook his head, as if he had said too much. "Anyways, you should get dressed. I doubt you'll want to go into Diagon Alley in a nightgown…"

It didn't take that long for Anne to dress into a gray t-shirt and pink overall shorts, but as she came downstairs Hugo bit his lip, forcing himself not to laugh. She shrugged it off, knowing what he had been thinking: _Pink makes you look like cotton candy just threw up all over you._ Once she was on the last step, she double-checked to make sure that she still had her list of supplies list, which she had checked off to make sure that they hadn't gotten triple of what they needed. But oddly enough, some objects like telescopes and few of the Course Books did not have a second copy lying next to it, which meant that the twins would still have to buy it again. She couldn't stand sharing a book with Hugo; he always hogged it all the time. When Anne had joined the two boys, Carol and their mother started to enter the tacky living room.

"All right you two—oh!" Mrs. Parkinson's legs wobbled as she saw him expand his smirk across his face. Carol caught her mother just before she had fallen face-first. "Artemis? How… when?"

"Line, is that really you? I almost didn't recognize you. You use to be… well…"

"Prettier?" Mrs. Parkinson asked sourly.

He shook his shaggy head, "No, that's not it."

"Mom, who is this guy? And I thought you hated to be called 'Line', you told that to dad yourself." Carol asked suspiciously.

Artemis grinned as Mrs. Parkinson tried to keep herself steady.

"Artemis Bedir. My goodness you always were a d—"

"Tut, tut. Not in front of the children. Unless you were going to say 'darling' that is." He wagged his index finger musingly.

"Enough of this… how long have you been here?"

"Long enough!" Hugo snapped. "We should have been at Diagon Alley half an hour ago!" he complained.

"You always were impatient, Line, so I'm not surprised that one of your offspring were the same."

"Caroline. It's _Caroline_."

He shrugged as he started to stroll towards the door, "Details. And really, we should get going before Hugo has a hissy fit."

"How did you get here?" Mrs. Parkinson asked cautiously.

"Like I said, _details_." He repeated the word as light and carefree as he had before, but this time his bronze eyes gleamed with excitement, something that Mrs. Parkinson did not seem to agree with. He looked back towards Carol, "It was nice meeting you, by the way. Don't turn out to be a stiff like your mom though, she was actually pretty wild back in her day."

Mrs. Parkinson flushed while Carol snorted.

"Are you sure you're talking about the same Caroline Parkinson?"

"No, I'm talking about Caroline _Meadows_."

* * *

"That was… wow." Hugo breathed as he hopped out of the black car. Behind him, his mother slid out of the leather seat and slowly pulled herself out of the car, shutting the sleek door. Anne was quiet in the front seat, replaying the surprised expression that her mother had made when she had seen Artemis, then, rewound back to the point when Artemis had said that her mother told him that he could take her to the Leaky Cauldron. They didn't add up, which meant only one thing…

"You lied."

Artemis had just grasped his doorknob as she whispered, not looking at her as he readjusted himself so he sat perfectly in his seat. There was a long pause, but then Hugo started banging on Anne's door. The man shot a glare at the boy, waving him away as if saying: _Go ahead of us, we'll catch up_. Hugo didn't dare to test him, instead, he ran over towards his mom, probably trying to make up some sort of excuse so he could preoccupy her.

"It wasn't that big…" he said indifferently.

Anne rolled her eyes, "That's beside the point. Adults are always telling kids 'Don't lie, you'll go to jail!' or something as exaggerative like that. And then adults are going on among each other lying in their face."

"That's because they don't want their children to do what the parent regrets. So they won't make the same mistake."

"That's—"

"What your dad told you." He finished, almost sounding like a question, but Anne knew that he didn't want a response to it.

"You knew my dad?" Anne asked curiously.

"_Know_ your dad. He's not dead and you should be greatful."

"Might as well be…" Anne mumbled as she glanced towards her feet.

"Look, your dad may not always be right in front of you, but at least he still cares about you." He snapped.

Anne sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt and opened the car door. He gazed at her as she stepped down onto the sidewalk and slammed the door shut, cutting him off before he could formulate something to say. When she had gotten outside, her arms folded across her chest; she could feel her tears raining down her cheeks as she leaned against the black Hummer. The slam of the door caught her off guard, causing her to immediately rub her forearm across her cheeks before she faced him. Although she tried to keep a straight face with him, her eyes were still red. He sighed and started to walk forward, "Come on,"

Artemis waited at the entrance of the tiny pub until he heard Anne's steps come closer. She shadowed him as he walked into the Leaky Cauldron, keeping the door open with an outstretched arm before it hit her in the face. With each and every step they made, Anne was starting to get more and more annoyed with Artemis than she could possibly imagine. He hadn't looked towards her until they finally sat down in an empty table, magic folk talking among each other in low mutters and whispers. The voices grew noisier, like a pub should, once they had seated themselves, and the witch-ling couldn't help but think they were talking about her but then she realized that they might have been talking about the man that sat across from her.

There was an awkward silence between the two, making Anne rather uncomfortable. She cleared her dry throat, trying to grab his attention for small talk.

"Um… that car, it was a Hummer, wasn't it?"

"You know about cars?" he asked in disbelief.

Anne shrugged. "Back at home, I remember my dad freaking out about something and rushed my mom over to the TV screen. They introduced it… it's suppose to come out in 2007."

"And we're in the ninety decade."

"So how…?"

He shrugged. "Things have been going on strangely, but I doubt anyone will notice the car."

"Why?"

"I guess you could call it a camouflaging spell."

'I remember a spell like that…' Anne thought. She remembered her mother saying that the only way to engage a conversation with a man was with cars or sports. She hated sports. But what she really wanted to know was what the man wanted to explain about the other night. He could read it in her eyes. "...So,"

"I guess small talk's over." He sighed.


	6. Gnomes and Moon Beasts

I had forgot to input that I do not own Harry Potter, but I guess you readers have already drilled that into your head… and yes, the last chapter seemed to not fit together, but that's why it was called _Jigsaw Puzzle_. I had to put in some interesting stuff for the twins…

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER SIX: **Gnomes and Moon Beasts**

Before they had entered the pub, the witch-ling had finally understood what Harry had meant that he wouldn't have been able to spot it if Hagrid hadn't pointed it out: It _was_ a tiny pub but it looked like someone had slapped it right into the middle of the wrong setting, whereas everything around it was modern and in date—if you didn't count the Hummer—and the pub looked like it had seen several generations before her time. However, she felt like there was some sort of character with this miniature gathering place, almost as if it stood up proudly for being in the center of the city—and yet, none of the people around it came to admire the place, for Anne knew that there was some sort of spell surrounding it. Once she had gotten even closer to the pub, she realized how dowdy and almost a little pathetic. _That explains why they put the invisibility spell on it,_ Anne thought, but she truly knew why it was hidden. There would be great shock if a non-magical person had gone through and met a leprechaun.

She was thankful that there hadn't been any vampire denizen, or at least, she was glad that she hadn't encountered any of them since the dark morning. Now that the tavern was more lively and animated, it was actually very relaxing. Her eyes had stared blankly at the chair before she had sat into it, assuming that the wood would be uncomfortable. But it was the opposite. _Magic, _Anne deducted. Now that it was very real, anything that seemed out of the ordinary she would revert to spells and hexes. This world was nothing like she could ever imagine, but she wasn't as confident as she thought she was when she thought magic didn't exist. Anne was scared—and why shouldn't she have?

Her eyes trailed towards her guard, Artemis: He was sitting down with the seat leaning back as he gazed up to the ceiling, deep in thought. His face expression showed tension, like he had been debating with himself; Anne knew this from times of experience. Hugo had always said that she had a funny look while she was in deep thought, but it cringed and turned whenever she couldn't make up her mind. It was an odd experience—watching someone else, for once, who didn't know what to do or say. The muscled man dropped his seat to the floor and folded his hands onto the table with a swift motion, catching Anne off guard. He sighed, listening as the beer glasses clanked together with rejoice.

"I owe you an explanation about… earlier."

Anne's brows rose, wondering if that was all he could come up with in ten minutes, but remained silent as he continued. She could hear struggle in his voice, which caused her to wonder if he had problems with talking to other people.

"That vampire, Caldwell, is… an old acquaintance of mine. He should have been going with his group to Greece so they could remain hidden. Their leader, Flint, had heard there were many Gnomes that roamed around the area… something about the perfect climate for them. But I think that was juts a false rumor."

"Why Gnomes?" Anne questioned, her tiny brows rose in astonishment.

Artemis opened his mouth to speak, but then a robed man approached him and sealed it shut with a wry smirk. The man was as tall as Artemis, but he was less bulkier in the torso and appeared to be somewhere around his forties. His hair was short and gelled, but seemed to be in an unnatural steely color, which Anne assumed to be caused by magic. His velvety robe covered most of his light skin, giving Anne another assumption that he was a rich wizard or warlock, if there ever was a difference, but either way it covered most of whatever he was wearing underneath. Probably a light shirt and some pants, so he wouldn't bake in the heat. (It wasn't incredibly hot, but it was still a sunny day, and if anyone wore velvet head to toe in a neutral day, then they were only making things more than what needed).

"Ale." Artemis nodded.

"Artemis Bedir, it's almost been too long."

"_Almost_," the babysitter repeated with agreement. (To Anne, it sounded almost like a double meaning, but then again, she always assumed too much) "How have the studies been going?"

Ale gave a soft sigh. "The Academy has been gaining less and less students each year. It's almost as if the parents have been forgetting what alchemy brings to the world. I've almost thought that the school would close, but we've been making so much progress that we've been given consideration with the M.O.M."

"And what was their consideration?"

He gave another sigh. "That's just the thing, isn't it? They haven't even contacted the Chandler to let us know what they had been planning for us. I had really been hoping that more students would show up—the ones we had last year were astounding and they've even decided to come again this year. Bless their souls."

"Hmm," Artemis nodded.

Ale eyed Anne and smiled, however, she didn't smile in return like she wished she had; she was too shy. "And whom to I give such pleasure to?"

"Annette Parkinson."

"Parkinson? Hmm, now _there's_ a name I haven't heard in a long time. Is he still with…?"

"In a sense, yes. He's been… uh… _traveling,_ you know?"

"Has he now?" Ale brushed his thumb and finger against his clean-cut beard. "Well I wish him good fortune to his traveling… anyways… why don't I order you two a drink? The usual?"

Ale shook his head. "We've got a young audience with us and I wouldn't think it'd be wise for me to buckle-down. Just get me whatever won't make me ditzy."

"Coming right up. And a water for the miss, I'm sure." He said with a turn of his loafer heel. Before Anne could input that she wasn't thirsty, he was already gone.

"That old cook… he's really a good guy, you know?"

Anne nodded. "So he's a professor?"

"Yup, but he's terrifying when he has to grade all of the homework that he's put up for the kids. Sometimes he even makes _me_ do it, but I hardly know that much about alchemy. I just know some of the basic steps."

"Alchemy?" Anne repeated. "I thought they only had schools for witches and wizards."

Artemis shrugged, "Technically, most alchemists _are_ wizards. It's really the parents' choice for what they want their kid to do, or maybe it won't even be their choice at all. Sometimes—"

"They'll have the name of the previous students' offspring enrolled on the list when they're born."

"Exactly." Artemis said with a nod.

"I've got a question… well, two actually."

"Okay, shoot."

"Why couldn't my brother, or anyone for that matter, hear when you and Caldwell had boomed into my room?"

"You still haven't figured that out?" Artemis asked with surprise.

Anne leaned her cheek against her palm, gazing up into the ceiling for a moment as she thought about it. She gazed back towards him and he grinned when she asked: "Was it magic?"

Artemis nodded. "It was a silencing spell, but I can't remember the name of it. I always had trouble remembering the names of certain spells. Second question?"

"… Earlier you said that Flint was on a blood-diet. Gnomes."

His expression hardened. "And you want to know why he choose to drink Gnome blood." It wasn't a question; he already knew her answer before she nodded. He took in a deep breath, then, it came out with a flare through his nostrils. He laced his fingers together and placed them underneath his nose before speaking in an awkward tone.

"After… learning something… Flint felt terrible about drinking human blood. From what he told me, he tried different creatures: Hippogriffs—" Anne gasped, but he continued listing the few creatures that he could remember. Some of the names of the creatures Anne hadn't even recognized. "—Aethonans, Bugbears, Fwoopers and other creatures that he was sure would be enough, but they weren't."

He paused a moment, as if he were in concentration, but came back to life after a minute. "Unicorn blood wouldn't do any good for them—the vampires feared that they would have the same fate as any mortal that tried to drink it, so they didn't go near it. In fact, they hate the smell of their blood just as much as they hate Gnome blood. It actually made them more level headed and I have a theory about the blood too… on why they haven't shriveled underneath the sun's rays. It's only a hunch, and I'm not too sure on it myself."

"Try me."

"Like I said, I'm not too sure on what it is. Maybe it has to do with the elements in their blood that differ from the humans." He replied with a shrug. "That's as simple as I could explain it… sometimes my… _theories_ tend to get the best of me.

"But anyways… they've been on the diet for months. There had been so many times that Caldwell had been so close to cracking, but he didn't want to disappoint Flint. Best friends. When they're tracking for prey they're really unstoppable. The Moon Beasts have had a hard time keeping up with them, almost for centuries."

"Moon Beasts?" Anne repeated.

Artemis shrugged. "I guess your people would call us werewolves, but we're the aristocrat version of them." Anne opened her mouth to speak, but he continued, knowing that she still didn't understand.

"Think about it as a level of ranks: E is the lowest rank, and I think they're the way they are because the werewolf bite might be infected. They can't really think straight, you know? They act like they're animals… or wolves if you want to get technical.

"When the moon comes out, it drives them nuts—just like blood and vampires—so they transform at the shine of the full moon. The muggles' theories about silver bullets and stuff like that… it might be a possibility, since they really don't like shiny things. If an E-level ever catches up to you, just use the Lumos spell. It won't be too damaging, but it'll blind them for a second.

"Now, D and C-negative wolves aren't anything too special, but they can actually _speak_ like we do, but they're really afraid of humans because we can still think better than they do, but the light doesn't really bother them as much as the E-levels. One of their greatest flaws is that they're big and hairy, so they're a lot slower at catching prey, but they're twice as powerful and could snap your neck like a twig—" he paused another minute as he saw her shudder. "Sorry about that."

Anne shook her head, but in the back of her head she was telling herself that it _wasn't_ fine. However, she still wanted to hear the rest.

"It's fine. Go on. You said the C-levels were negative… so there's a positive C-level too?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's about right. Now, what makes them so unique from the rest of the levels is that a Master can control them. Kind of like the saying: _a dog is a man's best friend_. Now, it doesn't matter if this Master is good or bad, because if they use the curse on the C-positive, then they have no choice but to obey his or her orders. If the Master said to it: _Go kill your best friend_, then, naturally the beast will do what they say."

"What happens if the C-positive doesn't obey the orders?"

He was silent for another moment, and from the looks of it, it seemed as though he was picturing something in his head. He sighed and shook his head. "It's really gruesome, but all I'll say is that the curse will take effect over the C-positive's body. Don't ask me anything else about the effects, it even makes _me_ sick."

Ale returned with their drinks. Artemis thanked Ale and he started to chug down what she thought was coffee—but it didn't burn him, so she guessed that it was something else. He had probably been thirsty from all of the explaining, so Anne wasn't too surprised when he was nearly done with the drink. She forced herself to take a sip of the drink, but she knew it was silly to be cautious about water. But what she was worried about is if the drink had any magic in it, _'No of course not… the pub would have been taken out of business if anyone found out there was illegal magic being put into cups,' _she told herself.

Ale walked away, mumbling something that neither one could comprehend. It didn't sound very pleasing. _'I wonder what that was all about…' _she pondered.

Artemis didn't seem to notice, or he was a very good pretender, but either way he took his cup and took a long chug. Anne wrapped her fingers around her own cup, slowly rubbing her thumb on it up and down. _'He seems to know an awful lot about the werewolves…'_ she deducted. _'… But then again, he's a lot older than I am, so he probably learned this information through the magic books. They probably have loads of detail about the werewolves and other creatures and I just have to look them up.'_ And that wasn't the only thing that had been bothering her; she didn't remember reading about any of this within the Potter books—and even _if_ they hadn't read that far, they must have eventually heard it from some other fan. That's how they had gotten hooked to the series.

"So," he broke her concentration after finishing off whatever liquid was in the cup. "Where was I?"

"You still haven't explained about the A and B levels."

"Ah, them." He gave a thoughtful nod. "Now, you know that the C-negatives are afraid of the humans, right?" He gave a short pause, waiting for her to nod. "Well, the C-positives are jealous of the A and B's. They're the highest level of wolves there is, and if they've cursed a chimera, then, it's like the Wizard Master and the C-negative: the Chimera has to do whatever the A and B levels tell them to. Same effect as the Negatives if they don't behave."

"But why—"

"_But why can they control chimera when the others can't_?" He grinned. "It's common sense if you think about it, since they can speak both human and animal."

"Can't the C-levels talk too?"

"Yes, but they can't even control themselves, so why should they even be able to control someone else?"

"That's true… but werewolves can't cast magic."

He nodded. "That's why the A's and B's threaten the chimeras. When they phase, they're gigantic." His arms sprawled outward as if to make a visual point for her. "The males can grow up to be the size of an Acromantula while the females can grow to be the size of two whales."

Anne gaped. "That's _huge_!"

Artemis chuckled. "Now you see why the chimera fear them?"

"Yes." She nodded. "… But do the vampires have levels too?"

"That's another story to tell later on. You need some supplies, won't you?"

Anne groaned. "Fine, but you'll have to tell me sooner or later."

Artemis chuckled. "We'll see."

* * *

"Fourteen inches, Willow wood, Unicorn Tail. It's brilliant!"

"Yeah, yeah. That's all right and everything, but I actually got _Dragon heartstring_. This is so cooler!"

"But it's so short…"

"Doesn't matter what the size of the wand is as long as it works, Anne."

"But Ollivander's wands _always_ work."

"Then you've got nothing to worry, kid."

They were still dazzled by the streets of Diagon Alley, even _if_ they hadn't gotten a chance to meet Harry. Hugo felt as though someone was purposely trying to keep them away from him, but Anne just told him that he was being paranoid and that they could just wait until they were at the boarding school to meet him like the rest of his peers. She was more interested in seeing how much information she could cram into her brain before the term started, not wanting a chance to be humiliated in front of Snape—and she _knew_ that she would meetthe Potions Master eventually.

Their mother had waited for both of them in the car, terrified by some of the do-dads that were in the Joke Shop that Hugo had convinced her to take him into. Artemis drove them home (in a less life threatening fashion) and had promised Anne that he would see them again before the first day of September, when they would have to be driven to King's Cross. Now that the duo had what they needed and before they knew it, the day that they arrived to King's Cross would arrive.


	7. Naming the Gameplan

Shoot… I probably should have done some research on the characters names before I claimed them. I just realized that Parkinson is the last name of Pansy… but oh well I'm too in-depth with the story already.

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN:** Naming the Gameplan**

"Carol, did you ever figure out why you got the booklet too?" Hugo asked as they walked past the platforms. In front of him was his cram-packed trolley that held his trunk, a clothed bag that had mysteriously appeared at the foot of his bunk, and the cage that held his new Tabby Cat that he named _Cougar_. Anne's cart was almost identical, but the only difference was that her trunk was ivory with her three initials engraved in copper: _A. S. P. _while Hug's was black and engraved with gold: _H. Z. P._ The second difference was that her pet was a Great Horned Owl named _Knight_, and she had a feeling that Grandma Claire was going to have a great deal of annoyance with having an owl in the house.

_'But what Grandma doesn't know is that I still have my slingshot dad gave to me when he found out the news about the boarding school… I don't think mom told him that it was a magical boarding school, but at least I'll get a kick out of the slingshot. My first target is Malfoy.'_ Hugo thought. He knew that he could have probably hexed or transfigure the boy if he wanted to, but that would have gotten him kicked out of the school immediately, especially since his father was a very rich man; for all he knew, they could have _paid_ Dumbeldore to have him kicked out of school. Even at the start of the book he didn't like Malfoy, but meeting him in person at Diagon Alley was much of a worse experience he could have had. _'The instant I see him I'm going to make sure he gets knocked out cold for the first few days of school… that way I don't have to listen to his annoying criticism.'_

He knew if he had let out even just an itty bit of information to Anne with his plans, then she would probably try with whatever power she had to stop him from "ruining the story". But wasn't _he_ inside the story just as much as _ferret boy_ was? Couldn't _he_ control what his actions were and not have to shy away from the surface of the world? Fate, or whatever it was, had started to get on Hugo's nerves and with whatever power _he_ had the wizard-in-the-making would make sure that nothing _but_ wrong happened. Lives were in danger, and for all he knew it could effect their own family.

They had solid information that could have been useful:_ Tell_ Harry how to stop You-Know-Who. _Tell _him that he wasn't alone in the world, that someone was keeping a watchful eye on him. Explain to Hermoine, first, that she was delirious and then tell her how to make whatever potions she needed. He didn't need books to tell him what a "spark" looked like and he dreaded that day when he walked in on Carol in their living room back in Connecticut. He shuddered.

"No, and I don't get it. I thought I didn't have any magic."

"You don't." The twins confirmed in union. Anne continued. "Well, not to be rude, but maybe you're a Squib."

"Squib?" Carol's expression was perplexed, but a hint of skepticism gleamed in her eyes.

"People who have a hard time with magic," Anne explained. "But it's suppose to be a little… derogatory depending on how you use the name. And regardless, _Mudblood_ is derogatory no matter how you look at it. They're people who don't have wizard parents, and probably had an ancestor who was capable of using magic at some point."

"I see…" Carol said.

Her eyes trailed around the platforms, unsure of where they should have been attending. She remembered the last time the twins had begged her to take them to Platform Nine-And-Three-Quarters, but they had only found a solid wall left without inspecting it, and what _would_ they have inspected? There was nothing in plain sight even when they stopped abruptly in front of platforms nine and ten. She heard Hugo gasp as they saw another family in front of them, each one owning flame-colored hair but the only one plumped among the children was (who she assumed to be) their mother. On the other side of them was another boy with black hair, examining them just like they were.

"I'm guessing that's Harry?" Carol whispered, remembering how Anne had described the boy in the books, but she never really thought that she was being serous. Who had ever heard of a book coming to life?

"Yup." Both twins responded.

Their eyes were still on the red heads as their mother asked what the platform number was. Shortly after, the little girl peeped her mouth open, but her mother shushed her and ordered one of the twins to start, but apparently the mother had gotten the wrong twin; she sympathized, remembering how Hugo had convinced Anne in the third grade to cut her hair like his so they'd look identical. She eyed her siblings as they snickered before the twin had announced that she had actually gotten his name right, and to Carol's horror, he commenced to ram right into the solid wall. She opened her mouth to tell him that he had lost his mind, but when he flew _past_ the wall it stayed open in awe. _So _that's_ how they do it… magic no doubt._

The other twin had already gone in, and this left the flame-haired mother with her youngest two, and Harry. He approached the plump woman before excusing himself, however, the twins started to get bored since they probably already knew the lines by heart. They were just waiting for their turn to go through the "vortex". Once Harry had gone through, Ron came after with Ginny clutching on her hand as they followed behind. They stopped when they heard their family name shouted from a Platform over.

Anne's head whirled. "Artemis!" she exclaimed.

He chuckled at her enthusiasm as she carelessly left her trolley and made a run for him, catching him slightly off guard when she hugged him. He awkwardly patted her head and looked back up, only to see an exasperated Carol stepping an inch towards Hugo with defense. The broad man shrugged his sleeved shoulders, approaching them with Anne at her feet. Apparently, he had worried her for not making his promised appearance with more stories to tell. Or _was_ it the stories she was worried about?

"Looking like your mother every day. Lovely."

"And what, may I ask, are you doing here? Does our mom know you're here?" her voice wasn't harsh, but it was stern. She ignored his compliment, just as he had expected her to.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked with a gleam in his eyes. "Just came to wish them bon-voyage to their school. I wish that 'Line would have told m that they were attending Hogwarts… I've heard nice things about it."

She still eyed him with suspicion as she ordered the twins to go through the platform, adding that they were going to miss their train if they didn't hurry. Unwillingly, Anne returned to her trolley while Hugo was already preparing to make a run for it towards the wall. Shortly after, Anne came running after him, taking a quick glance towards Artemis who gave a small wave before she disappeared into the wall.

* * *

Neither of the twins had been worried about crashing, like Harry had, but were awestruck when they spotted the dazzling locomotive. Next to it, most of the students had already started to argue about who was going in which cart while their parents waved from the side and wished them a good term, and actually meant it.

They forced their way through the crowds of people on the platform, but the true adventure was to find a vacant seat, one that Hugo had preferred to be nearby Harry's. Anne disapproved, of course, telling him dozens of reasons why they shouldn't interfere with Harry, but Hugo ignored her. His head perked up when he saw a pair of red-haired twins and eagerly abandoned his trolley towards them, acting as though Anne had been invisible when she frantically called his name. He gave a broad grin when he approached them, exchanging glances before looking at him.

"Have you lost your mum?" One of the twins asked, but he had a feeling that the boy was only teasing him.

"Very funny," he replied sarcastically.

"You're right, it _is_ funny." The other one said. "Why don't you give her a big kiss for me?"

Hugo rolled his eyes, but then a mischievous expression overwhelmed his face. Anne was going to kill him with that banshee-like screech of hers. "All right, all right. Then I suppose you're not interested in the rumors floating about."

"Rumors?" the asked in union, obviously interested.

He gave a mocking gasp. "You mean you haven't _heard_? Harry Potter's on that train."

They exchanged glances again and looked back to him. "You sure? I'm George, by the way."

"Fred." The other twin introduced.

"Hugo."

"Don't we have a cousin named Hugo?" Fred asked George. The other twin shrugged and looked back towards the eleven-year-old. "So what's this about Harry Potter being on the express?"

"Remember there was a boy with black hair when you were going through the wall?"

"Oh yeah, I remember him. So _that's_ Potter?" Fred asked. "I thought he'd look… well…"

"Abnormal?"

"Not exactly, but close enough." He looked towards his brother. "Do you think we should…?"

"…Help him out?" The other twin finished. George looked towards Hugo with a cheesy smile. "Thanks for the tip, Hugo was it?"

He nodded. "Well, I'd better get going. My little sister probably already got us a cart."

* * *

Anne gave a soft sigh as she gazed towards the window facing away from the sliding door. And just how Hugo wanted it, their cart wasn't too far off from Harry's, to her dismay. She'd been searching for the farthest cart as possible, but only ended up being three compartments away. Hopefully, if it was "twin telepathy" or just by asking, Hugo would have easily found the cart. The youngest Parkinson was already dressed in her school robes, feeling the embarrassment of changing in front of her brother, even though she wasn't very developed. Relief spread through her body as she heard the door slide open, but what perplexed her was that there were a pair of two feet behind him.

"Hugo, what did you do this—" her mouth fell open as she saw a blonde boy along with two other henchmen-looking friends behind him. Without asking, the blond sat down next to her while the other two sat next to Cougar's cage, hisses spitting out like wildfire. One of the oaf-looking boys picked it up and started shaking it, telling him to shut up. Anne gasped and seized the cage away from him.

"Don't do that! You'll get him mad." She barked.

"Well I wouldn't have if he would have shut up."

"And he would have been quiet if you never came in, you thickhead!"

"Hey—"

"Will the two of you shut up? You're giving me a headache."

Anne's head turned towards him. "And _you_. Who do you think you are waltzing around into someone's cart without permission?"

His silvery eyes narrowed, but his demanding voice was calm. "Crabbe, Goyle get out."

"What?" they exclaimed.

"NOW!"

Vigilantly, the boys stood up from the couch and sullenly walked out of the cart. Anne looked back towards Malfoy with a dumbfounded expression as he patted the seat, but she stubbornly took the one across from him, setting Cougar next to her. He sighed, shaking his head and hung forward as his fingers laced together, deep in thought. He mumbled a few irritated words before raising his tone with hatred.

"And that stupid Potter…we would have been unstoppable."

She suddenly remembered how he had tried to get Harry into joining his _gang_ to ditch Ron, but he had not-so-kindly refused the offer. The twin realized that her brother would have probably been disappointed that he couldn't see Scabbers attack him and run out like a whining child, and from what she could tell, he had claw marks on the back of his hand. Anne shook her head, wishing that she'd fess up and tell him that he was "making friends" for all the wrong reasons, as well as trying the wrong way, but she kept her mouth closed. She sighed, pulling out her wand and pointing it at his hand. His head jerked up, face turning pale.

"Don't move."

He was silent.

"_Episky._" She whispered.

A bright gleam of light zapped through the point of the wand, covering over the scars, then, they disappeared when the lights faded. His eyes widened in awe, examining his light colored hand from front to back, then, looked back towards her. They both jumped as they heard the train's whistle. Wordlessly, Malfoy got out of his seat and walked past the sliding door as it opened, ignoring whoever was in his way. Quickly, Anne got out of the seat and sat next to her pet owl as an enraged Hugo sat next to Cougar.

"What was _he_ doing here?" he sneered.

"He… uh… well…"

He raised his hand to silence her, and she gratefully obeyed. Anne's body tensed from the silence, but then he gave a smug grin as he looked towards her. She winced.

"Hey, you want to know something funny?"

"Err… sure, why not?"

"Have you seen Pansy _Parkinson_ lately?"

Anne gaped. "I do _not_ fancy him!"

He sniggered. "That's not what I meant, but good point. Anyways, I was wondering what happened to the _real_ Parkinson. Did we take her place?"

"It's possible… so is one of us suppose to go into Slytherin?"

"I hope not… but if it had to be between you and me, I'd have to go."

"You? But you _love_ Gryffindor."

He sighed. "I know… but… if we're going to keep in line with the story, one of us is going to have to spy on Malfoy, you know? For the second book. And I don't think Slytherin is suitable for you, you're too nice. They'll chew you up and spit you out. **Or** you'll go bad just like the rest of them."

"I would not!"

"Even nice people can go bad, Annette Splendora."

She winced as he announced her middle name and shushed him.

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad."

"Sure, whatever you say Hugo Zafir."

"Shh! Okay, okay I get your point."

She nodded triumphantly before folding her arms. Her head turned as the door opened for the third time and remained silent as a bushy-brown haired girl poked her head through, looking left to right. Anne knew what she was after, and hoped that she thought that the true searcher had already come through here searching for his frogs. Before she let words come out of her opened mouth, the twin cut her off.

"No toads here, sorry."

"All right… oh… is that your wand?"

Anne nodded proudly, "Unicorn hair core."

"Interesting…" her eyes trailed off towards Hugo, noticing that he hadn't put his robe on all ready. "You'd better hurry up and change."

"I know, I know. The conductor says that we're nearly there, right?"

She blinked. "Oh, so you've spoken to him, have you? Well then, excuse me."

Shortly after Hermoine Granger left, Anne started to notice that the train was getting even slower and then a voice echoed from what they thought was the speakers. Hugo's eyes gazed out towards the window and his eyes widened, not realizing how long they had been talking. When he looked back towards her, Anne was already standing up and stepping out of the cart. He pulled off his fleece jacket and rummaged through his trunk, searching for his robe. Once his hands caught onto it, he pulled it out and slammed the trunk shut. He took his wand from one of his pockets and tapped the lock with it while chanting the _Alohamora _spell.

When he left the compartment, he effortlessly caught up with Anne and handed her some of the trolley sweets he had snagged from his stroll through the corridor. With pleasure, she took a couple of Licorice Wands, a few Pumpkin Pasties and then munched on the leftover Cauldron Cake he had saved for her. It wasn't until she took the first bite that she realized how hungry she had been, and nearly devoured the Pumpkin Pasties. She was still hungry when they approached the lantern. She was glad that the Great Hall had a variety of food and couldn't wait until she got her hands on one of the peppermint hamburgers, wondering if it tasted more like candy or an actual burger.

Anne had both arms wrapped around her, her legs buckling together as they continued to walk. Several times, she rejected her brother's offer to giving her his robe, not wanting him to suffer from the frigid air when she was snug warm like a pea in a pod. They were pleased when the boats came to a clearing, him seizing a boat with two other girls who giggled as he tripped into the boat. Anne shook her head and sat down next to him, listening as the two girls introduced themselves: Shiloh Weller and Doreen Feeble.

Eagerly, Anne watched as the scene played, trying to recite the words that the author had used to described the lake and ducked her head when necessary. She sighed as Hugo hissed at her as if she were to blame for not telling him to duck, but didn't point out that Hagrid had already yelled out to them to _wach their heads_. She guessed that he was too busy trying to figure out which boat was Malfoy's, probably planning to do something inexcusable so he didn't have to deal with him for a while. In the front, Shiloh and Doreen continued to gossip and giggled when Hugo made a fool of himself, but Anne had a strange feeling it wasn't to be rude, but more that they thought it was cute.

Hugo groaned as they glided through the tunnel, knowing that he couldn't find Malfoy through the darkness. He sat silently with a pout on his face, Anne being thankful that it was dark to save both of them the embarrassment of his childish attitude in front of the other two. He finally lightened up when the castle came to view, amazed that it almost looked like it was glistening in the moonlight's presence. He had given up his hunt when they had walked along the steps, ignoring the conversation that Shiloh and Doreen had let Anne in.

"So, are you familiar with what the houses are?" Doreen asked.

Anne nodded eagerly and listed the four houses and their traits. Shiloh nodded in approval, "You'd make a good Ravenclaw."

"It's really not that hard to remember…"

"Actually, for most First Years, it is. Even if they've had a member of the family in the house, it's their choice to talk about the school or not. Is your family magic or muggle?"

Anne blinked. "Actually, I don't think that I've had a family member that has had magic… well… our dad might, but we don't talk to him much."

"Traveling?" Doeen asked. Anne nodded and she sympathized. "My dad's a traveler to, an alchemist actually. He met mum on one of his discovery trips, then, for the first years after I was born, he stayed but then he went back to his traveling when I started to learn how to speak. I think I drove him crazy."

"You drive _me_ crazy sometimes. I wouldn't blame him."

"Shiloh!" Doreen said with a laughed.

"_Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"_

The three girls jumped when they heard the large hand bang onto the endless doors.


	8. High Morals and Low Immunity

There are actual quotes from the book in this chapter and are rightfully owned by J.K. Rowling. The last quote from Hagrid is also accurate.

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT: **High Morals and Low Immunity**

Anne was startled to see McGonagall, expecting to see a wrinkled old witch. Well, she certainly was older than she was, but had to admit that the raven-haired witch was pretty for her age. The only thing that made others seem wary about her was her strict expression, and that was when the girl realized what Harry had meant about this woman wasn't someone you wanted to cross with. Hugo, however, seemed indifferent about the professor, like she was just another face among the crowd and no one to be incredibly worried about. As she spoke, none of the students (even Doreen and Shiloh) had spoken among each other, and followed her at her command.

Like a herd of cattle, the students followed helplessly through the crowd until they arrived to the stone floor. It was quite ironic, actually, to see a group of students on once side of the door in utter silence while the other students mercilessly jabbered their mouths. Hugo eagerly approached the door, almost effortlessly shoving through people, however stopped dead in his tracks as McGonagall eyed him through them. Anne placed her hand on her forehead, shifting immediately behind the two acquainted girls as a shield to hide her embarrassment.

The Professor greeted the students, then, started to explain how they would be sorted before sitting down to their seats and went on about their houses being like family (Anne lowered her head, knowing all too well that Hugo was set on where he had planned to be). Then she continued on describing the houses, then, Shiloh nudged Anne lightly with her elbow as Professor McGonagall asid that each house has a different history. Both twins new how to gain and deduct points (by heart) and as the house cup was mentioned, Hugo's eyes lit up. Of course, none of this was new information for them, well, not until they stepped through those doors.

_**"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**_

**_"I shall return when we are ready for you,"_ _said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."_**

**_She left the chamber_.**

Anne tried to look over the heads of the other students on her toes, trying to spot Hugo. When she spotted him closing in on Harry, Shiloh tapped her shoulder and she jerked her head back towards her, eyes widened.

"You all right?"

"Yes, yes of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Anne asked nervously.

"You're as white as a sheet," said Doreen. "Are you nervous about being sorted? Or are you nervous for your brother?"

"Both," she admitted in a whisper.

"I'm sure it's nothing painful… I've heard a bunch of nonsense about other years do to intimidate their siblings. It's like this weird tradition they have." She shook her head.

Shiloh nodded her head with her eyes as they rolled. It wasn't until she spoke then that Anne realized that Shiloh was Australian. "Yeah, my sister Kylie is our fourth generation in Hufflepuff. She said that if I don't get into it, then our 'family curse' will activate on me and haunt me for the rest of my life until I die."

"That _is_ stupid." Doreen agreed. "I've never heard of a family curse, not unless a wizard _actually_ preformed it. Two of my brothers go here and they're both Hufflepuff, but they had planned to go together so they wouldn't feel homesick. They wrote to me when I was waiting in Michigan, saying that I'd better get into Hufflepuff so they can bug me all of the time. But I want to be in Gryffindor…"

"It's not that I'm worried about…"

"Then what—"

Shiloh stopped when something happened in the air, wincing as she heard Doreen and Anne scream, but they weren't the only ones who had been startled. Many students gasped as they saw the ghosts floating about, and then, Anne felt stupid, for she had forgotten the flight of the spirits and suspected that Hugo was prepared for it. They weren't, however, surprised by the stern voice of Professor McGonagall.

* * *

The students scrambled into a single line, as she told them to. Shiloh stood in front of Doreen while Anne followed behind her, shadowing them as they entered the Great Hall. As she passed the doors, her face became pale as she saw the already seated students stare at them as they entered. She felt a lump grow inside her throat, then, her palms started to get clammy when she looked towards the High Table. She thought Dumbledore was eying her.

Her head whirled with anxiety and then she was reminded of her stage fright, making her realize her mother's reason for putting her into home schooling. Of course, she knew that Hugo's reason was that he was disruptive and couldn't sit still, but whenever they were next to each other, it was as though they canceled themselves out. She could imagine him confidently marching up to the Sorting Hat. And if they were going in alphabetical order, _she_ would have to be first.

In front of her, she could see that Doreen appeared to be a natural and eagerly waved to two Negro colored boys at the Hufflepuff table, only the taller one with the Afro had waved back while the other brother was whispering something to an olive-toned girl who giggled softly. Doreen shook her head and glanced back towards Anne.

"The one who waved at me was Kenneth, he's the oldest and is pretty awesome. When he graduates, he wants to go back to New Zealand, where our dad's family lives, and go to a regular High School. Next to him is Colby and his girlfriend Olivia, who he kept on telling Ken that he was going to propose to her when they go to Hogsmade this year."

"Propose?" Anne repeated in a hiss. "How old _are_ they?"

"They're both in their Sixth year, and you know how wizards say that you're an adult at seventeen, right?" Anne nodded. Doreen shrugged her shoulder indifferently. "He can't wait until Seventh Year, like Kenneth can. He doesn't want to be too hasty and leave Hogwarts."

"What about Shiloh's sister? What's she like?"

"Oh Kylie? I never met her, but Shiloh says that she's a drag queen. Doesn't even like to surf in the Down Under."

"Is that really the sky?" Anne heard Shiloh's voice ask.

_"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it _Hogwarts, A History._"_

"A bit of a know-it-all, don't you think?" Doreen whispered to Anne.

"Remember the boy who lost his toad? She tried to help him find it, so she can't be all that bad. Right?"

"I guess so…"

Anne watched as Doreen stared at the patched-up hat in awe as it started to sing, but Anne wasn't fazed by the action, this time. She waited like the other students for the song to end and then the hall clapped in acclimation, the sound reminding Anne of hard rain pouring down on a rooftop. The sound of raindrops soon died down when Professor McGonagall stepped out with a long parchment of paper and explained that they would be going in alphabetical order. The lump came back like a bad tumor that liked to play hide-in-seek whenever the bad anti-bacteria came around. Each time the Hat named out the houses, she winced by its broad voice. Then Professor McGonagall called out:

"Feeble, Doreen."

She grinned towards Anne, telling her to wish her good luck (and likewise). Shiloh gave a firm pat on the back as she passed by all of the other students and sat down cross-legged on the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table on the far left burst in applause as she giddily jumped out of the seat before McGonagall had pulled the Hat off. She smiled apologetically towards her brothers, but Colby seemed to avoid eye contact with her while Kenneth gave her two thumbs up. She gave him a single thumb up in return before sitting down at an empty seat while some of the already-sorted students greeted and congratulated her.

"Finch-Fletchy"… "Finnigan" … "Granger" … "Longbottom"… "MacDougal"…

When Malfoy came up, Anne actually looked up, but knew he was already heading for Slytherin. When the list came down to the P's, she thought she felt her heart stop when she was up first. With wide eyes, she looked over towards Shiloh, who gently grabbed one of her clammy hands and guided her feet so she'd step out of line, then, steadily pushed her until her feet started to work again. As she sat down in the stool, she immediately tried to search for the face of her brother, but when she did, the Sorting Hat finally spoke into her ear.

"Hmm you _would_ be better in Ravenclaw. A very bright light is in your pretty little head…or just maybe Slytherin will do just as well. But you'd be scared in there, no doubt…"

"_I hope not… but if it had to be between you and me, I'd have to go."_

The words continued to play through her head over and over again, her eyes still looking through the corner at her brother who waited with a pale expression. He mouthed the house they had previously discussed that she would be in. Someone _had_ to keep an eye out for Harry and if it was anyone, it had to be her. As much as she didn't like it, Hugo could take care of himself in Slytherin. He was strong and stubborn. When she anticipated this, she closed her eyes.

"Please," she begged the Hat in a whisper. "Please, put me in Gryffindor. I've got a job to do."

"You're, sure now? Well in that case—GRYFFINDOR!"

She felt a tear stream down her cheek as she heard the applause at the edge of the room, then, another loud applaud from the right where the students were standing. Anne didn't have to open her eyes to know that it was Hugo. She rubbed her cheek with her robe as McGonagall lifted up the Hat and pulled herself out of the stool. Doreen came running towards her, putting her arm around both of her shoulders as she started to list names and some of their traits that she had talked to while she waited. When they sat down, she started to point out a few of the other students who nodded or gave a short wave to her. They were still curious about the other students who would be joining their house. And suddenly, Anne started to feel much better, not having any worry about her brother when the house shouted out "SLYTHERIN" for her brother. Doreen seemed to be a little surprised.

"Isn't that your brother?"

Anne nodded proudly. "Yup, but he's too stubborn to go bad."

The listing of the houses went on, and of course there was a buzz about Harry Potter when his name was announced and then it seemed as though the whole room was bellowing: "We've got Potter!" but in reality, it was just the Gryffindor table who roared it (or just the Weasley twins to be exact), but some other houses applaud him out of respect. She could hear Hugo's long and loud dog-whistle (the whistle that people do with their fingers, something Anne was a little envious of because she could't do it to even save her own life) all the way from the Slytherin table, and all though many of the Slytherin students were probably telling him to be quiet, he ignored them and continued to cheer on.

* * *

They were nearly done with sorting when Shiloh joined the Gryffindor table, and only a few unpronounceable names were called. She gently elbowed Anne as a gesture and pointed her nose towards a boy who she thought was staring at Anne. She sunk low into her seat, looking at the wooden table as her friends to her right giggled at her shyness. They barely even listened in when Dumbeldore seemed to talk about nonsense, which Anne would have agreed that he was a bit mad.

"So, you're really not disappointed that your brother got the Cursed House?"

"It's not a Cursed House," Anne huffed. "And what about you? You said it was a bunch of rubbish about family curses. Besides, my brother's way too stubborn to start picking on anyone. If he _did_ it would be Malfoy."

"Malfoy?" Shiloh repeated. "Who's he?"

"George—or was it Fred?" Doreen shook her head at her puzzlement and went on. "Well, one of the Weasley Twins told me about the Malfoys. Said that Draco's parents might've been Death Eaters."

"What're those? If they eat death, then they can't be all that bad."

Anne snorted. "Death Eaters are the leader of Vol—" she felt a few eyes on her, but then quickly changed it. "You-Know-Who. A really bad wizard."

"He was in Slytherin." Doreen added.

"You know what? I'm just not going to go there, because right now I'm starved and I want food."

Right on cue, the food seemed to appear from nothing and instantly Anne started to grab whatever she could carry with two hands, dumping them onto her plate, then, added little bits of everything else, including peppermint burgers. She could imagine her brother fighting off the other Slytherin students to get his share of roast beef. She laughed out loud at the image, then, her face flushed as some of the students around her thought she was a maniac. Quietly, the girl took small bites of her food, but before she knew it they were all gone.

"W-o-w," Doreen said with emphasis on each letter. "Didn't you eat anything on the train?"

Anne shook her head. "I was waiting for my brother to get there, but he _did_ give me his leftover candy. And there was a lot."

Doreen jerked her head as she heard Shiloh scream, pointing at a ghost who pulled his head by the ear. She and Anne snickered at the pale-faced Aussie as she pushed her plate to the side, offering it to Anne as she had lost her appetite. Even though she had two servings of a meal, she was still ready when the main course disappeared and the desserts took their places. She was disappointed that the Rocky Rhode ice cream wasn't there, but settled with a jammed doughnut and placed a few strawberries on Shiloh's empty plate. Her face had turned from pale to a light shade of green.

"You should eat."

"I don't think I can…" Shiloh said queasily. She cradled her stomach with her arms as she felt the nausea launch within her, suddenly remembering how easily sickened she was by. Anne gently rubbed Shiloh's back up and down, trying to find the same motion her mother had used when Hugo had started to feel sick after eating too much before a roller coaster ride. In assistance, Doreen tried to convince Shiloh to change her mind about eating.

"Anne's right, Shi. You need to eat something and berries are healthy, you know? You'll be really hungry when we get to our dorms."

"But—"

"Please?" Both girls injected.

Shiloh groaned and picked up a golden fork, slicing a small piece of the strawberry with the edge, then, nibbled onto it like a hamster and lettuce. When the flavor set onto her tongue, she started to eat a little quicker but still ate in smaller bites. They ate in silence for a while, listening to the other students as they talked about their homes and their experiences of magic. It was all very ordinary, Anne noticed seemed to notice, if you just ignored the fact that there was magic floating about.

On the other end of the room, Hugo was shoving in whatever he could carry in his mouth before he chewed viciously. At some point, he choked and went for the glass of water to his right and chugged down most of the water, but he knew that it would refill if he needed it to. Malfoy was only a few chairs away from him, but he could still hear him go _on and on_ about stupid mudblood and Squib jokes that he had heard, other students around him laughing with him at the appropriate times. Half of him wondered if they were just pretending to think the jokes were funny to get on his good side. Whatever the reason was, he thought it was barren.

_He's a genius!_ I _should be there, not _you_. _A voice squeaked angrily.

Hugo's head lifted up and searched around the faces of the students around him, not bothering to swallow his chocolate éclair that was cram-packed on one of his cheeks. He thought that the voice was a girl's, but they were all smugly talking to each other about how rich their families were and what they had gotten for their last Christmases and so on. He was almost positive, for a moment, that it was probably just from exhaustion and commenced to swallow the rest of the beef. That's when the voice burst out a second time:

_PAY ATTENTION TO DRACO! If you don't, then I can't hear him._

He was completely dumbfounded at this point and the voice seemed to be impatient with him, sighing as if she were saying: _You're an idiot. Just do what I tell you to._ The voice sounded feminine, from the high-pitch sound that would probably make a soprano shatter into a million pieces, but what Hugo thought was odd had been that the voice sounded as though she were standing next to him with her lips at his ears. If that wasn't bad enough, his stomach started to gurgle in an unpleasant fashion, as if it were going to blurt out whatever contents was inside of him. His face lightened to a bony-pale color. _'You wouldn't…'_ he told himself, but shockingly enough, the voice responded.

_Oh yes I would. Pay attention. Now._

With a grumble of incomprehensive words, he shifted his eyes towards Draco, not wanting his first night in Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing, but then again, it would have beat having to sleep in the Slytherin's dorms. What he suspected was cold stone, black leather and tacky green sheets. He jerked his head away, a wry smirk on his face that read: _Hah! Now what are you going to do? 'You're not going to be with your precious _Draco_ today.'_

She fumed.

_**"Ahem—just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."**_

Dumbledore's voice was clear as he spoke of the forbidden forest, the voice scoffing that she could do whatever she wanted (but Hugo noticed the fright that her vocals gave), then, after he gleamed his eyes towards the Weasley twins, he seemed to drift off his gaze towards another Gryffindor and then back to Hugo before continuing his announcements. The Voice saw the meaning to the stare before the boy did.

_**"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."**_

_And that means you too._

_'Sure, sure… go and drool over Malfoy all ready.'_

_I can't see him unless you look at him! _she whined.

_'Forget it. I'm not going to swing for some lunatic girl in my head, got it?'_

_**"…the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a painful death."**_

_There's a three-headed DOG up there?_ The Voice exclaimed in shock.

_'You really like to ruin it for everyone, don't you?'_ Hugo responded flatly.

_Well _sorry_, _she spoke sarcastically, _but I'm not going to sit around and watch you play behind-the-scenes hero when I could be with Draco!_

_'You know, there are more important things than just some idiot-of-a—'_

He felt as though a hand were gripping onto his gut and then his face turned a shade of green, shocking some of the Slytherin girls that were close by. One of them immediately getting up and running up to the High Table, Hugo assuming that they didn't want to see barf all over the table, and wouldn't blame her. Minutes later, Madam Promfrey and Professor Snape. Hugo lifted up his light-headed head as the nurse spoke some words that he couldn't seem to grasp from the dizziness.

_The Professor's telling you to get up, you idiot._

_'I thought you couldn't hear what other people were saying unless I was paying attention!'_

_It's a little fuzzy, but I can understand _up.

Hugo suddenly felt even worse as he felt a stern hand clamp onto his shoulder, pulling him up like he'd done something bad, then there was a skeptical voice behind them as he continued to march on with Hugo staggering behind. When he had left the Great Hall, he had realized that it was Snape that had taken him. As he looked back, he saw Madam Prompfrey trying to keep up with them with both hands slightly pulling up her skirt so she could move her legs quicker.

* * *

"Do you think he's sick?" Doreen asked.

"Probably…" Shiloh replied. "I mean, why else would they ask for Madam Prompfrey? She's the nurse."

"I hope he's not too ill…" Anne sighed.

"Wow, just think that could have been me, but with McGonagall she probably been a little nicer."

Doreen shook her head. "I dunno, she seems kind of…"

"Strict?" The other two girls suggested. Doreen nodded.

"Well, obviously. I mean, she's the Head of Gryffindor and that's got to be a lot of pressure, right?"

"I suppose so… hey Anne did you figure out why Dumbledore looked at you before he continued with the announcements?"

Anne shook her head just before the entire room started to chorus with the school song, wincing as she heard one of the boys to her left were incredibly off-key. She wondered if Hugo would have chimed in with the other Slytherins if he hadn't gotten sick, but she knew right now that she wasn't in any sort of mood to sing. The song ended out of tune and then Dumbledore had announced that it was bedtime. Gratefully, Anne stood up from her seat before any of the other Gryffindors had and waited for them until they had started to follow Percy Weasley out of the Hall and into the marble staircase.

Shiloh pointed in astonishment as the pictures along the wall started moving and talking to each other while awed Doreen waved towards them, wondering if they would wave back. She gave a huge grin while Anne only gave a semi-smile as a knight in one of the portraits had winked at her. Most of the time she only listened into Doreen and Shiloh's conversations, sometimes talking about slaphappy nonsense while other times they were solid (like what their favorite colors were and why). Anne stated the first color that came to mind, which was turquoise, forgetting that her favorite color was magenta.

Anne winced as she heard a balloon-deflating sound in the air.

"Peeves…" she mumbled as she heard the Prefect's firm voice warn the cackling poltergeist.

Beside her, her friends gave her a puzzled expression but she pointed directly above her to the ceiling, not wanting to have to search for him while her mind was hazy. She felt a set of fingers wrap around her index and screamed as her feet lifted up, barely an inch, off the floor. The hand let loose, dropping her and she nearly fell over. Doreen came to the rescue before Anne had fallen backwards (grabbing her by her shoulders) while Shiloh was just as shocked as Anne had, but Anne hadn't suspected Peeves to be so close.

_**"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!"**_

"I've had enough adventures for one day, mate." Shiloh sighed.

"Me too, Sheila, me too." Anne responded in a weak imitation of her accent.

Shiloh gave a weak laugh before turning around as the other students start to walk into the corridor while Doreen helping Anne straighten up and the gently guided her through the crowd of people. Before Percy started to point which way was the girls' corridor, Anne pulled herself away from Doreen and figured it out beforehand. The other girls followed the sluggish Parkinson, probably having the same idea in mind: _I'm bushed_. The most that Anne had spoken was when she greeted her owl, Knight, before putting her nightgown. She stifled a loud yawn before she dropped her head onto the pillow and drifted off to a dreamy sleep.


	9. Similarity and Interjection

* * *

More accurate quotes from the book, all rightfully owned by J.K. Rowling.

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER NINE: **Similarity and Interjection**

Anne had found out that Shiloh had gotten up extra early, perfectly dressed in her robes. Unlike the other night, when her hair was in two blond braids, she had let the waved hair curtain her mid-back section without a care. Doreen's gelled hair seemed to have tangle out everywhere, reminding her of a picture of Albert Einstein that Carol had showed her for a home-schooling lesson the tutor had requested to be finished by the end of the week. Doreen complained that it had taken her mother hours to get it gelled down, just right. When she and Anne went to the Common Room to join Shiloh, the Aussie girl laughed at the wild hairstyle. Anne's hair was _just as boring as ever_.

On her shoulder she had the bag that had appeared on her bed on September 1st, discovering that it could carry more than it could swallow; it was like a Mary Poppins bag with a fashionable appearance. (She conveniently stacked all of the books in order, having the cub-journal on the top of them, but she was pleased that the bag muffled out the baby's whining).

"I don't know what happened! It was perfect yesterday…"

"Has it happened to you before?" Anne asked with curiosity. She suddenly remembered how Harry's hair seemed to grow (by magic) every time that his Aunt Petunia went to go get it into a "horrible cut".

"Yeah, loads of times; it drives my mom _insane_. Every day she'd send me to get my hair done, but when I'd get home she'd yell at me because it would go back the same way it had always done. She even terrified me with the thought of shaving my hair off (and came pretty close too), but she just gave me a really bad haircut all the way down into a boy's cut. The next day it grew back _at the same length_, but it wasn't as outrageous as before. And don't even get me started about Ken's fro…he swore he thought it moved by itself, but I told him he had lost his mind."

"He must have. I doubt hair can move on it's own, even if it _is_ a magical fro." Shiloh said, shaking her head. Doreen laughed before she continued. "Anyways, did either of you know about that Potter kid? That Granger girl filled me in about what he'd done… wow only one-years-old and he's a pro at magic? I'm impressed. Took me until I was ten to realize that I was a witch—scared the crud out of my folks when I almost went overboard on a cruise, but they found me sitting in front of a cake someone had order. I think that they had gotten up to get some punch, but that was a mighty fine third-layered cake."

"He was defending himself, I hardly doubt he can control any of his magic at his command. You have to crawl before you can walk."

"Anne's right, Shi. He's got just as much of a chance at magic as any of us other do."

"It'd still be pretty cool to have a chance to talk to him…"

The trio walked through the Fat Lady's portrait (Doreen turned around to wave at her before trying to catch up with Anne and Shiloh). As Anne walked in between the two other girls, she started to feel guilty. That she should have been taking the "job" more seriously than she already had, but what _was_ she suppose to do? The diary wouldn't even tell her what was going on in Harry's life; wasn't she his Protector? Or did the twins get the wrong houses and _she_ should have been in Slytherin?

In the morning, she checked the journal to see if there had been anything new, but all it did was slap itself shut before she could get a glimpse at the new silver words (she did, however, catch the word "vampire"). It started to bother her, the fact that Hugo's book (from what he had told her on the train) had showed everything that the storyline should have been, in Harry's third-written perspective, but in hers was something completely different. What was she suppose to do about people she didn't even know?

_**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in the exact right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. **_

_**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point to new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"**_

(Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone pg. 131-132, all rightfully owned by J.K. Rowling)

'_So this is what Harry meant…' _Anne thought as she recited the words with perfect memory, realizing that she probably didn't need the book as much as Hugo did.

Shiloh was on a determined Harry-hunt on the first day of their classes, but Doreen tried to convince her to be reasonable and try and look for him after sessions (at least). Smugly, Shiloh told her that if she didn't want to be late to class, then she should go off to class with or without her, but Doreen was too frightened to leave Shiloh on her own. '_What if she runs into Filch?_' was what worried her the most, taking pride to the "Gryffindor Code of Loyalty." She was also afraid that Shiloh might get herself lost, or worse, fall off of one of the stairsteps that disappeared every so often. (When it had happened to Doreen, she had screamed frantically when she held on for dear life as Anne and a Gryffindor boy helped her up).

Anne, however, was in a overwhelming state about what she should do: Focus on classes until further notice or stalk Harry until he did something he wasn't suppose to and correct it? Maybe she could let Shiloh tag along, knowing that she'd be eager to find out what the "Famous Wizard" did on his spare time. Silly, really, but it made herself laugh. He was just like any of the other students in the school, with a very large acceptance of the replaced Parkinson twins from young Pansy who had seemed to be lost. She didn't know how Hugo was doing, since he spent most of his time stalking Malfoy (probably curious what had happened from other points of views), but occasionally reported whatever he thought was interesting (and there were very few things that Hugo was interested about Malfoy, but his Voice Friend seemed to differ. He still hadn't told Anne about it yet, but if he did, what would she say?).

Strangely enough, Hugo had found that he thought that Professor Sprout's class was brilliant, loving the idea of getting his hands into dirt and learning about what the plants were useful for. He took the opportunity to ask her what the traits of a Devil's Snare was, how long it lived and when was the best time to grow it or the worst time to disturb it. She gave Slytherin five extra points for his questions and his "brilliant" opinions. Whenever he had broken off to his Malfoy-stalking to find hidden passageways, The Voice would complain, and this was when he had decided to call her "Azalea" because of her dry attitude (and also because he was allergic to azaleas, hating them in the process).

_I still don't understand why you're going through with what you've said to _that girl_. Why don't you go on and do what you were planning during the trip?_

Hugo physically sighed. _'First off, she's my _sister_, not _that girl,' he said in an as-a-matter-of-fact-tone. _'Second, I've put her through a lot of hell when I found out that Potter was actually a real thing. You've seen what I've done and know what I know, right? I don't get why you don't understand that I've got to make sure that nothing happens to her. And when I say _that nothing happens to her_, it includes Malfoy staying away from her. That's why I decided to go into Slytherin, well, one of the reasons anyways.'_

Azalea seemed to nod at this when she spoke, probably wanting Malfoy all to herself. _All right, one point for you on that. But you actually have potential here. Think about it! If you tell You-Know-Who—_

He stopped her instantly. '_I'm not going to be an accomplice to Voldemort'—_she gasped as he thought his name with confidence—_'otherwise there will be a hell brought all over the world. It won't be "_just the muggles"_! It's going to be anyone who he sees of little importance. Don't you get it? And if I even go and tell Harry, I have to admit agreement with Anne on this one when I say this, then things might not go into order. They've got to find out their things on their own.'_

_So why are you here?_

He stopped in the middle of the corridor, listening to the low voices that were nearby. _'I'm really not sure… maybe we're just here to guide him. Maybe someone's toying with the plot, oh I don't know! Hell, I could just be here so an annoying voice can drive me mad.'_

_Very funny,_ Azalea remarked sarcastically.

He entered the Great Hall, unnoticed, and unwillingly found the closest seat as possible to Malfoy. However, he was glad that he managed to sit across of him and away a few seats, whereas Azalea wanted to sit on the empty seat_ directly _across from him. She was furious, but Hugo countered that she'd better behave today if she wanted to get anywhere remotely close to him. She huffed and her attention seemed to focus on Malfoy, but to her surprise she had learned how to manage without Hugo's attentiveness. He let her listen as he looked at the food on the table that seemed to have practically every big bit of the food that made breakfast, breakfast. Flapjacks, waffles and bacon covered his plate, then, went for the maple syrup and drenched all of it over it.

He seemed to be indifferent to the hundreds of owls who waved in the air, dropping off the mail (but knew that Anne would have been delighted to see the different types of species) and commenced to consume the food on his dish. Half-curiously, he lifted his eyes as he chewed, instantly recognizing a white-coated bird he knew. Hedwig. _'Looks like Harry's getting Hagrid's letter… it's a good thing I checked up on the half-giant beforehand.'_

_Oh like I really care about that big oaf!_

_'I wasn't talking to you, you irritant brown-noser. Go back to your _Happy Place._ Okay?'_

* * *

_**"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.**_

_**"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them—we'll be able to see if it's true."**_ (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone pg.135, all rightfully owned by J.K. Rowling)

"Shiloh, you're drooling." Doreen giggled. No answer.

The blonde gave a dreamily sigh as she stirred her unfavorable porridge, probably preferring a banana and a bowl of cereal but had forgotten about it, not exactly knowing where she had gotten the dazed feeling from, but Doreen seemed to know that the answer lied underneath Cupid's Arrows. Feeble and Parkinson had been through the Aussie's different waves of emotions, but in the end she was love-struck with a person who was only a few chairs away from him (suggested by Anne, who secretly wanted to make sure that things were going according to plan. It was actually very boring, and yet interesting at the same time).

Doreen shook her head and lightly nudged Anne, who absently nodded in respond. She however, didn't answer because she was analyzing her surroundings before she dug a fork into one of her cut-up waffles. Just then, Knight dropped a letter (just barely missing the jam she used) and landed beside it. She had a set of diced flapjack ready for him to peck at and tossed one piece at him. He gratefully accepted it with a screech of delight before gnawing his little beak onto the fluffy flat-cake.

**How did things go with pottery's time?**

**-Hugo**

Of course, she knew that he was speaking in "code" just in case someone had gotten his or her hands (or eyes) on it. She scrawled back with one of her quills in response, giving Knight another piece of flapjack before handing him the re-sealed letter. It only took him minutes to get from one end of the Great Hall to the other. He smiled as he read it, Azalea ignoring him as he pulled up his mental wall.

**It went well. Have you found any news? Did something flaw?**

**-Anne**

He waved Knight's beak away as he scribbled back to her and placed it into his beak, hoping he didn't think that it was his breakfast. The owl was gone for a few minutes and then he came back for the last time with her final note.

**I see. Well, let me know if otherwise. See you in class, brother.**

**Love you.**

And they did meet in class, but they sat on different ends of the classroom (Hugo sitting behind Malfoy while Anne sitting behind Harry and Ron). Nothing seemed to go out of order, at least that's what Anne deducted, but jumped when Snape barked at them to copy down the notes. She was thankful that she didn't have to worry about pretending to write with her right hand, speeding away as her memory reminded her of the traits of the two herbs/fungi and would probably try to keep it somewhere where she wouldn't forget it (hoping that it would be of some use sometime in the future). Since then, Anne and Hugo hadn't seen much of each other, until the flying lesson, that is.

He stood next to her during the flying lessons, shouting just a little too loud at the broom, which hovered in air and started whacking at him uncontrollably. Anne couldn't help but giggle as she mounted her broom, watching as her brother was running away from his. The second eldest Parkinson sourly looked towards her as she gave an apologetic expression, biting down on her lip when she saw a few bruises on his head. Both twins winced as they heard Madam Hooch yelling for Neville, but they knew it would have done no good. He would have broken his wrist anyways. Poor Neville.

They joined the crowd of students who started to get into an argument. This was expected, but they'd forgotten something.

_**"Did you see his face, the great lump?"**_

_**"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.**_ (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone pg.147, all rightfully owned by J.K. Rowling)

The stale tension was brutal, but no words came out. No flying. Both twins looked at each other with concerned faces, trying to remember what was wrong. Anne's face turned pale as she whispered Pansy's name. Hugo stiffened as he caught on to her dismay. "And _I'm _in Slytherin." He mouthed to her. Everyone around them seemed to be in ripped tension with each other, the Remembrall long forgotten. Fearing for the worst to happen, Hugo took a daring chance that would probably mentally kill him in the process.

He cleared his dry throat, showing a smug grin. "Ooh, so you're sticking up for Longbottom, Parvati?" His eyebrows wagged upward in mockery.

She gave a deathly glare as she started to approach him, but Anne blocked him from her view and nearly countered, just before she slipped over something. Hugo dived forward just before she fell back, catching her in a half-crouching position. Anne heard Doreen whistle, impressed by his quick speed. Malfoy's voice broke the attention as he picked up the Remembrall that Anne had tripped on. The twins were relived as the story continued as planned; it may have only been a small step, but without that small step, Harry wouldn't have the urge to go one-on-one with Malfoy. Not on time, at least.

The argument continued up in the air, most students spreading out from underneath them to get a better view, while others tried to stay in place (fear of getting in trouble with Madam Hooch). Doreen stayed behind with the twins while Shiloh came and joined Hermoine as she tried to call out to Harry, but it was no use; he was probably too high up to hear her. Meanwhile, Hugo gave a weak grin to Anne who nodded in approval (for once) at his actions. _'Well, not exactly what the words said, but close enough. I'll give him enough credit that he rightfully deserves.'_

Anne looked towards Doreen who seemed to be a little more understanding on why both of them seemed to stick their neck out for each other, regardless of their houses being rivals: _Family will always be family_. The twin sister was glad that her friend hadn't bothered to mention that her brother had just insulted one of their House members, but later on she'd apologize to Parvati. Each of the children jerked their heads as they heard a strictly stern voice that was all too unmistakable. Professor McGonagall.

_**"HARRY POTTER!"**_

She ignored the students who seemed to defend him, Shiloh opened her mouth when the Professor ordered Harry to follow him, but the woman silenced the Aussie with a raise of her palm just as her mouth opened wide. Anne came over to her as she started to sniffle, patting her back and telling her that it was going to turn out all right, insisting to her that he wasn't going to be expelled. To her surprise, most of the students seemed to listen in on her as she tried to make her friend feel better, probably because she wasn't the only one who didn't want Harry to leave the school.

When Madam Hooch returned, Malfoy came running like he'd been injured and started babbling nonsense about Harry, but then most of the students from Gryffindor fought back at him. He silenced once Madam Hooch gave a meaningful glare towards his direction. The boy complained that he'd have his father "hear about this" and stormed off with Crabbe and Goyle at both of his shoulders. Once Malfoy had left, Hugo bent down to his knees, groaning like he'd been sick. Azalea was getting on his last nerve.

"Hugo, what's wrong?" Anne asked as she put her hands onto his shoulders.

"I feel like I'm going to… going to…" he didn't finish. When a portion of his breakfast came up through his mouth, Anne jumped back with her eyes shutting, knowing that she'd start to feel sick if she saw the guck. A few of the girls made disgusted sounds, some of the other male students from Gryffindor laughed. Anne glared at one of them who was pointing and he was caught off guard; was it the one that Shiloh had said that thought that he was staring at her?

"Another one…" Madam Hooch sighed. She helped him up to his wobbly feet, "Come on, Mr. Parkinson. I'm sure Neville will enjoy some company while you're there."

* * *

_'Can't you behave for once?'_ Hugo spat.

_You made Malfoy leave! _She accused.

_'Since when?'_ he barked at her calumny.

He mentally argued with her throughout the silent walk with Madam Hooch, still pale (with a small layer of green on the surface) when he arrived at the Hospital Wing. Madam Prompfrey wasn't too surprised when Hugo entered the room. He gave a warm, but faded, grin as he saw Neville, hoping that he wouldn't feel too horrible for sharing space with a Slytherin student. The nurse handed him his spare pajamas that he had left the night before (expecting to be coming back with injuries, not more vomit) and helped him put them on when Madam Hooch left. She told him to get to the farthest room from Neville, fearing that it might have been the flu that was causing him to gag. He kept his basin with him, ready anytime for the yucky stuff was ready to come out. Madam Promfrey exited the room, telling them to be silent.

Hugo decided to ignore her, hoping to get on Neville's good side; if he was planning to be friends with the Gryffindors, wouldn't it be easier if he started with the shyest one?

"How's the wrist, Longbottom? Painful?" he asked in a low, but friendly voice. He avoided using his first name, for now, until the boy was comfortable with talking to him. If he didn't respond, he'd shut up. Neville was startled.

"J-just fine."

Hugo heard the lie in his voice, but he guessed that the plump boy didn't want to seem weak in front of his "rival". He nodded slowly, to prevent more swirls to dance through his head.

_Just shut up, will you? He's not worth it._

'_Sez you. Now be a good girl and stay on your side of the wall.'_ He spat. She yelled at him as he blocked her from his almost wordless conversation.

"But you have to admit, it was pretty cool being in the air. Right?"

Neville sunk low into his bed. Hugo thought he had vomited out some of his waffles, but it wasn't exactly something you could notice by taste. Sounds gross, right?

"Kind of… yeah… if it didn't end up with me nearly killing myself."

Hugo snorted. "Oh, it wasn't _that_ bad Longbottom. You just have to control your nerves, is what you have to do."

He shook his head, "I-I can't help it…" he sighed, then, looked up with a puzzled expression. "Why are you being nice to me? You're Slytherin."

"I'm still people." Hugo replied nonchalantly, but then felt a wave of more waste coming through his mouth; it was then when he realized that it wasn't Azalea. _'Maybe I ate too much…'_ he thought. "Sorry you have to go through this. You breaking your wrist and then having to see—_gasp—_this."

"Don't worry about it…" Neville mumbled.

"And besides," he tried to sound as even and honestly as he could. "I really _did_ want to get into Gryffindor. Would've defended you from Malfoy if I had to, Neville."

His mouth gaped, "Then why—" but he became instantly silent as he heard the nurse's footsteps. He still stared at Hugo.

"Pretend to sleep." Hugo mouthed before another load of vomit.

He was starting to feel a lot better, but his face was still pale. Madam Prompfrey had both hands on her hips as she came in, looking at both boys' beds. Neville had laid back as her face came to view, while Hugo gave her a weary grin. Her lips were crooked with skepticism before marching back to her office. When he heard the door shut, Hugo whispered out to him that he could get back up if he wanted to. The boy pulled back up, question filling his face and Hugo sighed, answering before he could speak out.

"Don't ask, please. Maybe in a few years I'll tell you… that is, if you still don't hate my guts for being Slytherin. But I think I threw up most of those already."

Neville gave an impotent smile.

"Oh yeah, for any reason, if I seem like I'm acting weird or anything, don't take it as offence. Okay? I'll either explain later or try and make it up to you."

He gave a slow blink, then, gave a single nod.

"Okay."

* * *

"I told you so." Anne said, pointing a forkful of mashed potatoes towards a flustered Shiloh before letting it enter her own mouth. Doreen had decided to take up her offer on Kenneth's invitation to sit at the Hufflepuff table; since she hadn't returned, Anne guessed that they hadn't shooed her off. This gave her time to pay Shiloh back with long overdue teasing. The Australian girl rolled her eyes, admitting that she was sorry for all of the giggling, but that didn't stop Anne from her "roll". She had finally drove Shiloh so furious that she had sent her marching to the Ravenclaw table to sit with her elder sister, Kylie. She was a bit frazzled, because she'd never thought that she'd see the day when she would catch her party-pooper-of-a-sister tied with another Ravenclaw boy. This gave her younger sister the benefit of getting rid of unwanted steam.

Anne sighed regrettably, wishing that she'd kept her potatoes in her mouth before she spoke. She had decided to take this opportunity of aloneness and moved her seat as close as she could to Harry, but the only one vacant was the one next to Hermoine. Politely, Anne asked if she could sit with her. The busy-haired girl gave a short nod, her eyes scanning a book that was probably something done for homework that Anne probably hadn't started on yet, but she decided to work on it later and somewhat listened in on the hushed conversation between Harry and Ron.

She didn't need to know what they were talking about, of course, since it wouldn't be _Harry Potter_ on a broom in the first book without him being Seeker. _'Harry's going to be popular tonight, even _if_ he doesn't tell anyone that he's on the Quidditch team.'_ She thought as she saw the Weasley twins walk away from Harry. She gave them a nod, both of them looking at each other with perplexed expressions and each giving a small wave before leaving the room. _'Oh that's right… they know Hugo. Not me.'_ She reminded herself.

The Parkinson twin blinked as she saw a letter fly down onto her lap, head turning from left to right until Malfoy and his henchmen's backs facing her. She raised a brow and curiously tore the paper open.

**I nearly panicked when he wasn't planning on the nighttime-event, so I told him that he was probably scared of pottery and didn't think he could take the challenge. By the way, I feel much better. The trophy room looks like a cool place to hang out under the moonlight. See you then.**

**-Hugo**

_P.S._** He didn't read this, of course. (Really thought that I could make him have warts by opening it. He's a gullible little twit.) And I've got something really cool I want to show you.**

So he wanted Anne to meet him at midnight, did he? However, she was incredibly curious about his "really cool something", almost making her sold to the offer. It didn't look like Shiloh was going to talk to her much tonight and Doreen was probably going to spend most of her time jabbering about friendly gossip about the Hufflepuffs.

_'Why not?'_

* * *


	10. Surprising Night and Magical Gifts

Well, here's another chapter with a few more quotes from the book. As always, the book quotes are forever owned by J.K. Rowling.

Has it gotten interesting yet?

Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

"_I'll need something to look forward to."_

* * *

CHAPTER TEN: **Surprising Night and Magical Gifts**

**Leave your robe in the common room. I've got something better.**

**-Hugo**

Anne was still feeling just as unimportant as ever, but the days had been ticking by and neither one of them seemed to remember when the twins' birthday was coming up, but this surprise that Hugo had handed her was better, and an odd thing at the same time. It was a cloak, but it wasn't just any old cloak, it was something that she had instantly recognized—even through the heavy doses of magic that someone had left on it.

Hers was the one she had worn that dreadful night that the vampire had come to kill her, while her brother's was something she had never seen before: it was a velvety orange with darker spots of orange, possibly from wrinkles, and it was lined with two slim tassel lines that hung low on each side of his cloak to tie together. Her own one was a familiar silky black, but it was just as heavy as the velvet and seemed to have grown a little too big for her. Her tassel lining was a silver color, which she had thought to be incredibly tacky.

Before Anne could have a say in anything, Hugo had already started to shove the robe onto her. She quietly whined, but didn't fight him off as he tied the rope parts of the tassels together. When they tied, she felt an incredibly cold chill crawl down her spine, then, a tiny tickle of warmth commenced around her entire body. It never left.

"Well? What do you think?" Hugo asked in a whisper.

"It's too big…" Anne complained. "And it feels like the temperature has raised up at least ten degrees."

"Perfect. Now just wait a minute until I get this thing on… I think someone charmed these… I can almost smell the spells! No worse, I can _taste_ the magic. _Yuck_. It's worse than vomit."

She gazed at him skeptically as her brother started to mutter complaints on how complicating the robe had been impossible to put on. He had easily shoved on her cloak whereas his took longer to maintain. _'It doesn't look that hard…' _Anne thought. _'He's just being difficult… honestly…'_ Her brother was slowly starting to get on her nerves, but since she had been more alert, it was tolerable enough. _'What's going on with me?'_

"Hugo, you can't _taste_ magic." Anne hissed. "And how is this suppose to help us go through the halls if Filch finds us?"

"I think I've got some kind of weird sixth sense, or something. I don't know…" Hugo responded. It was as though he had just ignored Anne's deduction like a blow of wind through his hair. "But I can feel the effect of the Disillusionment Charm. See? Or not?" He snorted at his own joke. However, Anne was not amused. Instead, she was in awe to see that her brother's head was floating in midair with no body attached to it. He grinned widely and pulled his hood up so that his whole entire body disappeared.

Anne blinked. _'Well, that_ would _make sense,'_ she admitted. _'But why didn't they just use another cloak? It would have been much more easier than this.'_

"So someone's enchanted our Halloween cloaks? Why would they go through all of the trouble to do it? And whose been breaking into our house?"

"I really don't know… maybe it's that person that sent us all of those packages and stuff. I found the cloaks when I was rummaging through my bag when I was trying to find a book of mine—oh yeah. Did you know that Malfoy's a thief? I caught him trying to sneak into my trunk… so I need you to keep the photo of the Platform for a while."

"You _brought _it?" Anne asked with a hanging jaw. She ignored the thought that she may have looked stupid while she was talking to something as visible as the thin air, but knowing that he was in front of her it didn't feel as strange. Somehow she could still feel his presence. "Have you completely lost your _mind_?"

_'Actually, I have. There's a moronic brat lurking in my noggin whose been making me vomit because I won't stick around Malfoy.'_ Hugo thought sarcastically. He grinned as he heard Azalea start threatening to him about more vomit, but he knew very well that she couldn't keep it up for forever. The vomit was coming out less and less, and eventually, he wouldn't have to worry about the vomit-attacks. At least, he hoped not.

"Just come on, will you? We're—"

_**"Go back to bed!"**_

Both twins jumped at the sound of the voice and hid behind at the end of the corner. Quickly, they lifted up their drooping hoods and peered over towards the three Gryffindor students as they bickered. Hugo was crouched down, glancing at the other hallway that connected to theirs and saw Neville curled in a small ball as he tried to sleep through the argument in the other corridor. He had the sudden urge to go over, tap him on the shoulder and ask if the Disillusionment Charm was working, but that'd just be stupid. He looked back towards the trio and Anne tugged onto the sleeve of his invisible robe.

"I think they're coming this way. C'mon, we should head them off."

"No way," Hugo hissed back. "We've got to make sure that they don't miss Neville… why haven't they heard him yet?"

"Neville's suppose to wake up, isn't he?" She asked as she pulled her hood up. A chill tickled her head like an outwards brain freeze, then, the warmth wrapped around it. The hood felt incredibly heavy, like the robe, but she guessed that a charm must have been there to prevent the cloak from getting out of place.

"Snuffling sound…" Hugo recited. "But he doesn't snore until he's deep in sleep, from what I can remember at the Hospital Wing. It takes him a few hours at least, but we don't have time. What're we suppose to do?"

"Make the sound ourselves?" Anne suggested. She couldn't see his shaking head, but she could tell by the sound of his voice.

"No, they'll go the wrong way and think it's nothing. Wait a… hold on a sec. I'll be back."

"What're you _doing_?" Anne hissed after him, but she couldn't tell where he was going. She couldn't see where he was going, but could definitely feel that he hadn't been beside her as she leaned towards the clearing. Harry and Ron had been surprised to see Hermoine out of bed—well, Ron seemed more appalled than surprised, but she guessed that he hadn't expected "Miss Goody-good" to come out of bed late at night.

She took a look back to the soundless Neville, whom Hugo should have hung over by now. The twin couldn't hear her brother's whisper to Neville, which had been drowned out by the threesome's voices. It was odd though. She wondered how she could hear their whispers from all the way over at the end of the hall. _'Is it another charm? How many are on this thing? No wonder it's so heavy…'_

Neville curled away from Hugo, who sighed impatiently. He was so desperate that he wanted to scream out the bucktoothed boy's name, but he literally bit his tongue to silence himself. Now what was he suppose to do?

_Just kick him._

_'That'd hurt him!'_

_Exactly._ Azalea sneered.

Hugo rolled his eyes, but seeing as though he had no other better idea as to waking him up. Shove him? Do an Irish Tap Dance on top of him? Would a yodeling call be too loud? Probably. He gave a protesting sigh as his foot pulled back, imagining the mental picture of one of his younger cousin's grins that meant: Ha, I win you loose. Before he let his foot fly, he tightly shut his eyes. He really didn't want to do it.

_Just go on with it already!_ She barked.

Like a bullet, he unleashed the kick and out came Neville's sound of discomfort. As the round boy turned over, Hugo backed away several steps towards the wall behind him.

Hermoine had heard the sound and Neville was starting to stir. They hadn't heard Anne's sigh of relief, but Hugo definitely had. It was something his ears had been tuned with for years— she'd been holding her breath as if she were waiting something terribly wrong to happen, something like the cloak would slip and he'd be exposed to them. Then he'd have to explain what he was doing and how he'd even got his hands on the cloak in the first place. Harry shouldn't know about invisibility until Christmas, so they would have to be extra alert.

_**"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and use it on you." –Ron**_

Hugo snorted, but it seemed as though the four never seemed to notice it. He was starting to wonder if there was a Silence Charm put on the robe, too, but then how could Anne hear what he was saying? He didn't have much time to think of a possible solution when he saw them starting to walk through the corridor and took a slow step towards him. He froze.

_'Where's Anne?'_

_Just ditch her. I don't like her._

_'Tough luck.'_ Hugo retorted. He jumped at the touch of a shaky hand clutching onto his robe, but clamped his lips together to suppress his urge to scream.

"Sorry," she whispered. "I just thought I heard footsteps."

"No problem," Hugo quietly responded. "Well, let's go follow the hosts." He gently nudged her arm as if he had recited on an inside joke. She snorted as the walked hand in hand, so they wouldn't loose each other again, and followed nimbly behind the crew in front of them. _'Sooner or later they'd find out that Malfoy had tricked Harry so they could get caught,'_ Anne thought, although she'd wish that she could speak up and deliver the message to them, but that would just create more chaos within the story. Like, how they wouldn't be able to find the guarded door when they were going to break into a run. Then what? They'd go on with the rest of the term, not knowing what the Dark Wizard was after. They wouldn't be prepared.

"Filch's out to get you, Neville, run. _Run_." Hugo whispered into the plump boy's ear in a horrible accent, but it was enough to make the skittish boy run into Ron. When they'd broken into a run, the twins had given up following after them, but instead, Hugo took a different turn, almost leaving Anne behind in the process. "I know a better way," he whispered to her. "Just follow me."

Like she had a choice. They'd gone just about the opposite direction the foursome had, but then, Hugo found himself a portrait he had gotten tipped off by Fred, who almost unwillingly gave him the information but remembered the day when he'd tipped him off about Harry Potter. After one last corridor, Anne opened the door that she assumed to be the Charms Classroom and stepped in with Hugo at his heels. They could hear the charge of students coming towards them through the other hallway and immediately shut the door. He gave a small chuckle of amusement, the kind of nervous laugh someone would make if they were afraid that they weren't going to make it, but then fate thought that it would be ironic with that someone and spare them.

"That was—"

The door swung open a second time and he sighed as he slid down against the stoned wall, sitting with bent knees while Anne was hurled forward with uneven breaths. Her hands were resting on each of her knees that had been buried by the heavy cloak. She told herself that she'd have to find some sort of Lightweight Charm to make it easier to run in the cloak, because she knew that she could have endured more than what she was handling without all of the weight being pounded on her. _'But would it work? Or would it just backfire from all of the other charms?'_

She winced as she heard Peeve's voice, mumbling a swear word she'd heard a wizard boom as he lost a gamble at the Leaky Cauldron. The youngest sibling didn't care that her brother was appalled or impressed by her potty mouth, but she truly didn't like Peeves. It occurred to her at that moment why the name was given to the Poltergeist. It suited him to be the one who seemed to drive everyone in the storyline mad, or even those who _weren't_ inside the story, but the sound of his voice made it worse.

_**"STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"**_

Both Hugo and Anne held their breaths as they heard the footsteps of Filch. Hugo stared through narrowed eyes with Mrs. Norris as she waved her paw in front of him, biting his tongue to prevent him from shooing her away. Unlike Anne, he mentally thanked Peeves for keeping Filch busy while his cat wouldn't stop trying to rat them out. When the Poltergeist had drove Filch out of line, he grumbled to Mrs. Norris to come along, ignoring that she was still whining about the two "nothings" whom were engraved to the wall, motionless. The cat obeyed and Peeves was long gone, Anne sighing out incredibly loudly when the door slammed. Hugo released his breath shortly after, pulling down his hood.

"Since when did you ever learn how to say stuff like _that_? Mom's going to make you swallow a bar of soap, whole."

"Oh as if _you've_ never heard or said anything remotely close to it." She forcefully pulled down her hood with a glare and Hugo laughed as he mimicked her action.

"Okay, okay. Well, I think we've had enough fun for the night. Think you can go back to the Gryffindor tower by your whittle self?"

She wasn't amused. In fact, she was almost cranky. "_I'm_ not what you need to worry about."

He shook his head and stood up to his feet, then, left an outstretched arm to help her up. Anne stubbornly pulled up on her own, dark-circled eyes staring at him warily.

"All right, all right I'm sorry." He said as he started to walk towards the door. He paused as he lifted the handle and looked towards her. "By the way, Happy Birthday."

He disappeared after his hood was up.

* * *

_My dream had led me to another gloomy alleyway, but it showed different features than the other dream had: For starters, the last dream had left me into an alley with tall walls that led up to the bright sun—this path was narrow with short walls that barely reached into the darkness. And each time I thought I had found my exit, I was only to be disappointed and find another red-bricked arch that lead to another walkway. If it was dark, it meant that there were more creatures I should be worried about, let alone a drunken vampire who thirst for my blood._

_The breaths far behind me were uneven, so immediately I knew that it couldn't have been a vampire—or could it? I remembered when I had asked Artemis if there were different levels of vampires and he had given me a suspiciously wide grin. Maybe this vampire was a weaker level compared to the first one. That didn't help ease the adrenaline that pumped through my veins, but the course of anxiety changed to the kind where someone thought that they could easily overcome something. It was more frightening than nearly being killed off by a vampire._

_I had just gone through a fourth archway and I found myself at a foyer that didn't seem to go with the outside, but I didn't care. My feet clapped against the tacky colored rug with incredible pace, then, I suddenly heard a rumbling sound that sounded awfully close. I suddenly wished that I had dominated my urge to look up, but it had been too late. The creature beside me must have been no taller than six foot, however, its back was hunched forward with humane arms covered in wallops of fur. It reminded me of the third movie's werewolf, but the difference was that it was more muscular and had shaggy hair all over the place._

_I bit my tongue to prevent myself from screaming as the awfully large creature scooped me up into its arms and made a run for the stairs. Behind us, the uneven breaths were getting closer and closer, until one of the doors in the alleyway swung open. The creature took a dive for the room and behind him the door slammed. We could hear the banging sounds and threatening hisses from the other side, but the moon beast seemed unfazed by it. The beast set me down onto the bed and walked towards the window. My eyes followed his movements, but widened as he stared back meaningfully towards me. After a long second, he jumped through the window without breaking it._

Her body is lost. _It was a male's voice, but none that I have ever heard of._

Find it. I know you can._ The words rang through my head like a charming rhapsody._

_The echo of the male's voice drowned out the snarling from the other side of the door as I stupidly sat at the foot of the bed. I could still remember perfectly how the hotel room looked like before everything blacked out._

* * *

Anne didn't really know how popular she had been outside of school, but she had bet that Hugo had gotten just as much presents the next morning. Their father sent most of the gifts, and how he had ever gotten his hands on an owl was beyond her imagination, but he had also told her that he was incredibly impressed that she'd gotten "the most loyal houses of all". He'd also explained that he was in Egypt, studying the ancient ways of alchemy, and apologized to her for not explaining why he hadn't been there for most of her and her brother's birthdays.

One of the items she had gotten from him was a single-mirrored compact, but she didn't know what it was used for since there was no makeup inside it (In the note, he had explained that it had been bewitched to do something, but the ink was smeared as it described its properties). Another item she was familiar with was a Revealer, which she wouldn't know what to do with for the school year. A few other items she had gotten were sweets (pumpkin pastries, licorice wands, etc.), a cylinder of Garroting Gas, Omnioculars, Exploding Snap, a canteen full of Gillywater (which Anne had discovered that it was charmed to refill itself), and a Kwickspell.

She was stunned when Artemis had sent her a Lunascope, telling her to take an Astronomy class for one of her electives for the next term. The rest of her items were non-magical from both Carol and Mrs. Parkinson (Carol, giving her a non-fictional book "so she wouldn't loose her mind in the magic world"). It was all very touching to her, and she nearly cried when Hugo had sent her a letter, whereas she hardly got him anything. _'He'll probably like a Fanged Frisbee…he always_ _did enjoy driving people nuts.'_ Anne thought. More than likely, since the magic was 'out of the bag', their father had sent him humorous joke-items to go along with his unused slingshot.

"You never told us it was your birthday!" Doreen exclaimed as Anne had just barely bit into her strawberry-jammed bagel.

"I thought you guys were mad at me…and my birthday was yesterday." Anne replied softly, nibbling at the end of the untouched food.

"Mad?" Doreen repeated. She looked over to Shiloh, but she wasn't surprised.

"Not anymore. So, are you going to invite us to your little party, or are we going to have to let ourselves in?"

Anne sighed, beckoning them to take the seats next to her. Doreen curiously looked through the Omnioculars while Shiloh curiously moved her hand towards the vile that held the gas. A gasp escaped Anne's lips and she clutched it before Shiloh could.

"It's Garroting Gas. It could probably kill you."

"Then why do you have it?" Shiloh asked with wide eyes.

"I… I don't know. My dad said it might be useful."

"Woah! Everything's all in slow-mo. Cool!"

"Omniosculars." Shiloh deducted. "I read about them in a Quibbler article."

"You know that those articles aren't true, right?" Doreen stated as her finger flicked one of the knobs. She jumped as she saw Dumbledore's face staring directly at her when she pointed it at the High Table. His scrawny hand slowly greeted her, but she quickly placed the binocular-like device back onto the table with a blush that had barely been recognizable against her dark skin. Anne watched her as she rummaged through her other gifts, but avoided touching the Garroting Gas as well. The twin noticed that her hair was twice as crazy as she had remembered. _'I wonder if she tried to mend it again…'_

"How would you know? Do _you_ read it?"

"I read one article and I know for a fact that Harry is not a woman who uses a Metamorph-Medal to transform herself into a First Year boy. Whatever_ that _is."

"It's a fake metal that's incredibly dangerous. Don't touch it if you get the chance."

"All right, all right I see your point." Shiloh sighed. She looked around the Gryffindor table, trying to scope someone out. When she didn't find them, she moaned.

"Where's Harry?"

Anne laughed. "He's with Ron, probably looking at—" she caught herself just before she said "broom", but then gnawed a big chunk off of the bagel. Shiloh raised one of her brows in curiosity.

"Looking at…?" she repeated curiously.

"I think I saw his owl come with a package. Probably didn't want everyone all up in his business as he opened his gift. You know, since he's famous and all…"

"Oh." Shiloh replied stupidly.

"Anyway… I'm going to need a bit of help with all of this. Mind to help a bit?"

"Sure!" both chimed.


End file.
